One Hell of a Teacher
by Samurai-Mina
Summary: Everyone seem to agree on one thing: Trafalgar Law is the ideal man and it would be a dream come true to be part of his life. I... disagree. Law/OC. AU. Translation of 'Le Professeur Narcissique'. Awesome cover made by CaroRolo! [On hiatus for now]
1. The Girl with the Camera

**So this is my first time translating a complete fanfiction that I made in English. It has been quite a while since I translated something, so feel free to point out mistakes if I made any!**

 **As for this story, I want to specify that I live in Québec, so school isn't exactly like America, or even the other provinces in Canada. Don't get confused when I say that they're in their last year, but they're only 16 years old. That's right, here, we finish high school at 17. If there's anything you don't understand, or you're confused, don't hesitate to tell me! I'll explain as best as I can!**

 **Well, I hope you will like my story, enjoy the first chapter!**

 **xXxXxXxXxXx**

 **The Girl with the Camera, Chapter One**

Birds were flying in the blue sky, spreading their long wings as the sun was shining on their feather, giving them a magical appearance.

 _Click._

The school fountain gave a refreshing taste to the view by this unusual hot day of September. The water was almost calling me to dive in.

 _Click._

A couple sitting by the shadow of a tree was lovingly looking at each other. Pure love.

 _Click._

A tall man wearing a suit was peacefully smoking by the entrance of the school building. His messy black hair gave the impression that he didn't even bother to brush it this morning. His piercing grey eyes were watching students who took advantage of the break to go outside. An evil smirk on his lips, he dropped his cigarette on the ground, smashing it with his foot, and before he turned around to go inside, I swear he looked at me through the lens. I took away my camera from my eye and watched him go. Trafalgar Law once again cut the inspiration right under my foot. No way I could take nice pictures after seeing his face. I sighed furiously and put my camera in my bag. Oh, how I hated that teacher…

The bell rang, which meant we had to go back in class. With the other students, I went back inside. The hall was full of people as I tried to make my way through the crowd to get to my locker. More than once, people bumped into me. Each time, I protected my bag. My camera cost me way too much for horny teenagers to break it.

I finally got to my locker and I smiled when I saw my friend already there.

"Yo, Luffy" I said.

He didn't even turn his head to acknowledge me. He just continued searching through his mess.

"Do you know where my math notebook is?" He asked as a greeting.

I pushed him gently to the side to search too. Without much looking, I took what he was looking for and gave it to him. He smiled like an idiot before thanking me and running off. He disappeared through the crowd, his things under his arm, to meet with his two friends who fought all the time. Seriously, I wondered how Zoro and Sanji hadn't killed each other yet despite their hatred...I shook my head and took my things to go to class. I put them in my bag, careful not to damage my precious camera, before locking the door. I followed the other students, making my way to class. I arrived much too soon to my taste. I sighed and tried to go in my classroom, but someone bumped me. I grunted while I rubbed my forehead. I looked up, annoyed, and thought about giving a piece of my mind to my ''assailant'', but I froze. Zoro was looking at me, not even fazed by our collision. I looked down, breathed ''sorry'' and went in the classroom as fast as possible. I got to my desk by the back of the class, next to the window, and sat down quickly. A sigh escaped my lips. Will I be ever able to talk normally to Zoro again..?

"I'm so glad to be in his class!" Said a voice next to me.

I turned my head and saw two girls, one on a desk, the other standing by her side, who were talking loudly.

"Me too!" Said the second girl. "It's his first year as a teacher. That's what I heard."

Her friend nodded.

"I don't know about you, but I say he should have been a model. Just look at him.."

They sighed at the same time, their heads in the clouds. I winced and looked outside. The biologist teacher Trafalgar Law was quite popular among his co-workers, especially with the female gender. And not just them. It didn't matter if it was the other teachers or the students, he was a heartbreaker. And of course, with popularity comes rumours. Some said he went to prison. You know, because of all the tattoos he had. The most known was the one he had on his fingers, where we could read the word _Death_. Others said he was part of a sect, or that he was a drug dealer. If you ask me, it was all bullshit. But you know, teenagers love gossip, so…

The second bell rang. As the students complained, the biologist teacher walked in to begin his class. My head fell down in my hand as I looked at the beautiful sun outside. I would give anything to be elsewhere. Time's gonna pass slowly…

xXxXxXxXxXx

"Bye Cerys, see you tomorrow!" Yelled Luffy as he crossed the road, almost getting run over by a car.

The driver shouted his lungs out, cursing at the young man. He apologised while laughing before walking away. I shook my head as I watched him. This guy's going to get killed someday.. I slowly got on the sidewalk, my faithful camera in my hands. Without really knowing where I was going, I sought the perfect picture to capture. Just then, I felt something touch my back. I turned around and saw Nami with a smile on her face.

"Mind if I tag along?" She asked.

I shook my head as we walked in a comfortable silence. We only knew each other for less than two months, but we were already good friends. We met at the Baratie, which is owned by Zeff, the adoptive father of Sanji. The blond works there as a waiter, and the redhead girl walked in as I was eating some noodles. Of course, being the player he is, Sanji started to flirt with her, even though it was pretty obvious that she wasn't interested, not in the least. That didn't stopped him though. As the minutes dragged on, she became more and more irritated, and she snapped at some point. Without even as much as a warning, she punched him square in the face. I almost choked on my noodles. When I was finally able to breath again, I bursted out laughing hard, to the point where I was crying. She found my reaction funny, so she came over, and from there on out, we became friends.

Without realising it, my camera went up to my eye and I looked at my neighbour. She really had everything for herself. With her long red hair, her shining brown eyes and her perfect body, no wonder Sanji fell for her, even after she punched him. I captured her beauty forever by pressing on the shutter release. _Click._ I'm sure it's going to be a pretty picture.

She saw what I was doing. Instead of being angry, she showed me her tongue. I laughed and took another photo. I then put down my camera and continued to walk in silence.

"Your parents are still not home?" She asked.

I nodded.

"They're overseas, right?"

"Yup. Since August."

She nodded. We walked some more, and without even realising it, we were in front of her house. She told me goodbye before entering the building. I pursued my way and ended up at my own house. Or apartment. I sighed and climbed the stairs until I was in front of my door, on the fourth floor. I went in, since it wasn't locked, and took off my shoes in the lobby.

"I'm home!" I yelled, my voice echoing in the house.

I heard footsteps getting near me. In all its glory, Trafalgar Law appeared in front of me, his hand loosening his tie. He smirked mischievously and replied with a sarcastic voice.

"Welcome home."


	2. An Evening full of Memories

**An Evening full of Memories, Chapter Two**

After taking off my shoes, I looked at Law, who was still smiling down at me, and went up to him. He let me pass him and I walked through the hallway, my bag on my shoulder. I arrived at the door frame, where the kitchen and the dining room was to my right, and the living room was in front of it, to my left. I gently put down my bag on the couch. Law, trailing behind me, sat on the sofa beside me and took the remote to turn on the TV.

"I thought you had your karate classes after school?" He asked without as much as a glance in my direction.

I opened my bag and put out my camera.

" _Sensei_ was sick so they canceled it. _"_

He changed the program and the news popped out. I looked at him out of the corner of my eye as he was making himself comfortable on the sofa.

"You're making dinner then?" He said mischievously.

I sighed. I knew he hated anything related to making food, and in any case, every single dish he made was a potential danger to my own life. Who the hell puts soya sauce, honey and mayonnaise in the same recipe? I wanted to hurl, just thinking about it.

"Yeah, yeah.." I groaned, not too happy. "Just let me change first."

I went back the way I came from and passed through the hall again. I entered the last door on my left and shut it after me. My camera still safely in my hands, I put it on my desk, beside my laptop and my other stuff. I then went to my wardrobe and took some short pants and a t-shirt. I took off happily my school uniform and hastily put on my other clothes. It's not that I didn't like my uniform, it was actually quite pretty. I didn't hate skirts either, even if I preferred my pants, it's just that those clothes weren't the most comfortable thing on earth.

Once changed, I came back to the kitchen. I took an hair band from my bag and made a ponytail with my hair. After that, I washed my hands while thinking about what I should make. I didn't want to get through a lot of trouble, so I decided to make spaghetti since there was still some sauce left in the freezer. I put it out, made it unfreeze a little in the microwave before putting it in a pot on the stove. I put another pot with water this time next to it and I incorporated noodles when it was boiling.

"What are we eating?" I heard Law say from the living room.

I moved around the sauce so it would unfreeze faster.

"Spaghetti."

"That's it?"

I smirked.

"With garlic bread."

"Baaah!" He complained, disdainful. His mouth was all weird, clear sign that he wasn't too happy about it.

I still couldn't understand why he disliked bread so much. Didn't matter, since it meant more for me.

While the noodles cooked, I heated the oven at 350°F and took a baguette to slice it into small pieces. Once done, I put garlic butter onto the bread pieces and shove them in the oven. Just as I was closing its door, the phone rang.

"Can you take it?" I asked my teacher, obviously busy.

He ignored me completely and just continued to watch TV like a zombie. I sighed angrily and went to the cordless phone.

"Hello?"

A cheerful and feminine voice answered me on the other side of the line.

"Hello my sweetheart!"

I smiled.

"Hi mom."

It was nice to hear her voice instead of the idiot's.

"Everything's good at Law's house?" She said, worried. "He's not asking too much out of you, is he?"

Other than cooking, the dishes, the laundry, all the housework…

"No, no, it's fine. And as for you, how are things out there with dad?"

She beamed immediately, her voice even more merry than before if possible.

"Oh, my dear, if only you could see all the wonders!" She exclaimed happily. "The pyramids are just magnificent!"

And she began her monologue that was really interesting, I'm sure, but I only half listened to her. My parents were as we speak in the beautiful place called Egypt, contemplating the pyramids and discovering the ancient tombs of the late pharaohs. My mother was a journalist and she worked for a newspaper specialised in history and different cultures, both old and new. The project she was working on now was focused on Egypt and its grand pharaohs of ancient time. My dad was with her, and he could be considered her right arm. He was actually a photographer, and you can presume that it was from him that I got my love for that art. My mom almost never left the house without him near her.

When I was younger, as soon as my sister Leïla was old enough to babysit me, my parents started to travel all around the world. Of course, they didn't leave us alone for more than two weeks in a row, but most of my childhood consisted of the absent of my parents. Then, when my sister turned 18, while I was 13, she got married and left the household to raise her own little family. After that, my parents started to travel more often and their trips dragged on longer than before. I wasn't left on my own, though. Neighbors and family members used to visit me often to see if everything was alright. Years passed like that, and then came last June.

My mother received a promotion and she had to travel again for a big article about Mayas, Pharaohs and Romans. The thing was that she had to be gone for over six whole months, along with my father. Usually, I could take care of myself just fine, thank you very much. However.. My mom saw all kinds of articles in the newspaper mentioning dangers that were present in the city, such as thieves and rapists breaking in houses. She was kind of a paranoid, so she decided that this time, I wouldn't be left all alone at home. That's when Trafalgar Law appeared.

To sum it up, let's just say that I know Law since I still sucked my thumb. I must have been 5 when I saw him for the first time. With a 6 years' gap, I never really played with him, my sister Leïla was more of his age. The only thing I'm certain of is that even when I was just a little kid, I never liked him. At all. First of all, he took great satisfaction in torturing my mind. So much I hated to be left alone in the same room as him for more than a few seconds. He always made me cry at the end. Second, I think I was the only one who could see his true face behind his fake normality around others. But I knew he had a twisted mind. He had (still has, actually) strange behaviors and a funny way of thinking. I immediately knew when I saw him dissect a frog (Still alive. Just saying) and found it funny. I'm telling ya, a real carnage.

Anyway, all of this to say that I knew him for a long time and that my parents looooooved him (don't know why). When he heard that they were searching for a « roommate » for myself, he proposed himself. And they accepted.

I can already hear you asking why I didn't simply go to my sister's. Well, first, she doesn't have a really big house. Furthermore, she already has two kids, a third on the way, and I would have felt left out in her little cocoon. I didn't go with my parents either, obviously. It would have been a little difficult with school.

And that's how I ended up in the same apartment as my biologic teacher after my parents sold our house.

"Cerys, are you listening to me?" I heard suddenly in my ear.

I jumped at the voice of my own mother.

"Yeah mom, sorry, I was just…"

I immediately shut up when I inhaled a strange smell floating in the room.

"Do you smell something burn?" Said Law in the living room, not even fazed by the scent.

I sweared quietly when I realised I completely forgot my bread in the oven. Panicked, I almost threw the phone across the room, but instead put it on the counter before taking oven mitts and hastily open the oven. A thick smoke and an awful smell welcomed my gesture. I took out the baking sheet and put it on the counter. The small breads were partially burned, but if I scraped them a little bit, it would at least be edible. As if it was mocking me, the fire detector went off. I blocked my ears with my hands while Law lazily got up from his throne as he sighed, took a journal and made wind in front of the detector to make the evil machine stop blowing our eardrums off. After a while, it finally ceased its infernal torture and the calm came back, soon broken by the worried voice of my mother who was asking what was happening. I took the handset to assure her that we were all right and that the apartment wasn't on fire. I soon hang up and sighed. I heard a sudden teasing laugh resonate in the room. Law went back to his news while laughing and he shut me a sly glance. I grunted to myself and refrained from tossing my burned bread at his face.

xXxXxXxXxXx

Totally relaxed and warm from a long shower, I entered my room and comfortably settled myself on the chair in front of my desk before turning on my laptop. It was my routine before going to bed: look at the photographs I took during the day. I could do it directly on the screen, but I preferred to do it on my computer. While it was warming up, I plugged in my camera.

I looked one by one each picture I memorised today. Most of them were great, and I noticed that without even realising it, I took one of Law during lunch break. Scornfully, I deleted it, even if we didn't focus on the undesired object, the cliché wasn't bad in itself. The next ones were of Nami. Like I supposed they would be, every last one was almost perfect. Without even noticing, I compared myself with the redhead.

I certainly didn't have her physique, since I was average size, in every aspects of my body. I had long black hair that was just above the end of my shoulder blades. My eyes were a deep green color, similar to the ones we can find in a vast forest. My skin color was darker than her own, since I visited the sun more often, and I was also more muscular (for a girl, anyway). No wonder she was so popular with the opposite sex. Me, on the other hand.. We can't really say the same. Not that I cared that much. Slowly, I pulled out of my daydream and shut off my laptop before I layed on my bed. Soon enough, sleep overran me and I was sucked into dreamland.


	3. Difficult Subjects

**Difficult Subjects, Chapter Three**

Something rough and wet travelled all across my face. That thing assaulted my skin and left behind sticky drool. In addition to the discomfort created by weight on my chest, my alarm clock was screaming in my ears.

I opened my eyes and immediately saw sharp ones looking back at me. They belonged to a furry ball that each morning enjoyed waking me up, making it its mission. As he saw my eyes open, the little kitten meowed happily.

"Bepo, how many times do I have to tell you to stop waking me up like this? Your tongue is rough on my skin!" I said as I was standing up, the small fur falling onto my thighs as I did so.

He meowed again, to protest this time, as if he comprehended exactly what I was telling him (or maybe I just disturbed him from his position.). The annoying sound was still yelling to my left, so I turned off my alarm. The calm finally came back. I stretched the sleep away and Bepo did the same by using his claws on my blanket. I stroked his ears and he slowly started to purr in pure bliss. He searched more of my contact by pressing his head against my hand.

It was kind of strange to know the owner of this cat was the tyrant of my childhood. And yet… He explained to me that he found him one day on the street. It was raining bullets and the small white fur was freezing outside. He was so thin his bones were showing. Law continued his way after he encountered him, but the kitten followed him all the way to his apartment. Law then decided to keep him, out of curiosity. It seems there was still some humanity left in the psychopath teacher. And anyway, there was no way anyone could resist this adorable little kitten, with his silky white fur and his big round eyes. He was just too cute for this world. It was in fact the only reason why I let him wake me up like this every morning at 7am, even on weekends (that little..), with the same tongue he uses to clean his genitals.

Anyway, on that melodic note, I got up, put my Yoshi's slippers on and opened my door while a yawn escaped me, followed closely by the lap cat. I walked down the hallway with difficulty, my feet barely able to put themselves one right in front of the other. I finally arrived in the kitchen/living room. The 22 year old man already was seated at the table, his nose in his coffee, barely out of it. Believe me when I say he was not a morning person. And this time of the day was my favorite, because most of the time, he would just ignore me and he didn't flash my way his carnivorous smirk, which kind of told me he wanted to dissect me. My mood was great as I stepped foot in the kitchen, and so I offered him my angelic smile.

"Sleep well?" I asked him merrily.

He let out a grunt as an incomprehensible respond for the common mortals escaped him, and instead gulped down his coffee to wake himself up. I walked happily across the room to the counter to take two pieces of bread so I could put them in the toaster. While they were heating up, I took a big glass of orange juice and I put it on the table, in front of Law, after taking a zip first. My toasts popped out, and so I buttered them before putting on an armor of banana on top of them. I took them to the table and sat down to eat my breakfast. That was a great way to start the day.

The entire time I was eating, not a single word was pronounced between us. It was a daily routine I appreciated. I wondered if Law was always like this, maybe I wouldn't hate him so much. I put my dirty dishes in the sink before going back to my bedroom to get dressed in my uniform. I hurried down the hallway because I knew if I was just a minute longer then usual, Law would requisition the bathroom, which meant I would be late to class, since he took forever to get ready. Because he took a shower in the morning, the room would be filled with fog and humidity, which I didn't like. I went in the bathroom to brush my teeth and settled on a ponytail for the day, since it was quite windy outside. Just as I was getting out, Law entered the room, already shirtless, just his pants still on, which were doing a poor job at covering his skin since they were kind of loose. I could totally see his provocative V. I got out in a hurry without looking, my cheeks on fire. Even if I hated him with a passion, I wasn't blind either. I mean, how can you stay passive with that chocolate bar chest? If only those taking an interest in him knew he didn't just have tattoos on his hands and arms…

I quickly went to my room and closed the door behind me. It took me a good minute to get my breath back and clear my head. I repeated constantly in my mind « Idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot » like it was a creed. Once I've calmed down, I let out a furious sigh and continued my daily routine so I could go to school in time. I put my homework done from last night in my bag and of course, my precious camera followed. It didn't leave my side, after all. Imagine that I forget it at home one morning, and that I lose the occasion for great shoots! The horror.

I was finally ready for school. I just had to pack my lunch. I went back in the kitchen, made a quick lunch with last night's diner, took an apple, some snacks for the day as well as a water bottle, and I was all set. I went back the way I came and put on my shoes. It was that exact same time that Law decided to get out of the shower, still shirtless, a towel around his wet hair.

Just to piss him off, I applauded loudly and looked at him with an incredulous stare while letting out an amazed « Oooh! ». He stared back as if I was crazy. I gave him an innocent look.

"The great Law- _sama_ can wash himself in less than 15 minutes, that's a miracle!" I said, mischievous. "I'm quite impressed, your highness."

He clicked his tongue in irritation and raised his eyes to the ceiling. He turned tail and was about to recede.

"Ha, wait a sec!" I hastily said.

He stopped and glanced over his shoulder. I took the time to tie my shoes, put my bag on my back and get up before speaking again.

"I will eat at my sister's house tonight, so be sure to fix you something up or order some food so you don't die from food poisoning or starve. See ya!"

I hurried outside before hearing him protest. I tumbled down the stairs, trying to make some distance between me and the crazy teacher who was sheltering me. Once in safety's arm on the sidewalk, I slowed down and took out my camera. It was beautiful outside, the sun shining, the morning still fresh from the night, a pleasant fragrance coming from flowers, and the wind cooling down the view. It was a perfect day to take some pictures.

I rised it up to my eye and started my little routine, which meant getting lost in the art of photography. It was my little pleasure before going to school and starting a boring day of learning. I wasn't really paying attention to my surroundings, which brought hatred from drivers and pedestrians, and every now and then I could hear the strident sound of a cyclist's brake that didn't want to kill me with their bike, but all of it didn't affect me that much. My passion for photography was badly receive by the people in my life, or at least misunderstood, but I couldn't help it. My camera made my world come to life. I was in a different universe every time I pushed the shutter button and immortalised an image. It was like a drug to me. Some loved fashion, some loved sports. In my case, it was photography.

I took a picture of a bird flying by, another cliché of a cherry tree, and without realising it, I was getting closer to my school. I then heard a piercing scream.

"Ceryyyyyys!"

I would recognise this voice anywhere. My camera still attached to my eye, I stopped moving and turned around. Luffy ran towards me with his arms over his head, a gigantic smile on his face. Zoro followed not far behind, his bag nonchalantly put on his shoulder, his hands in his pockets. I smiled upon seeing my turbulent friend.

"Hey Luffy."

He smiled even more and did a military salute. I shook my head, laughing. Zoro arrived behind the excited young man and gave me a nod of the head to acknowledge me. I quickly did the same and avoided his gaze.

The three of us talked as we continued towards our common destination. Actually, Luffy did most of the talking while I answered him with HMMs and OKs once in a while, and Zoro stayed quiet, sometimes looking my way. This game went on for several minutes until Luffy stopped talking and walking. The green haired man and I didn't have a choice but to do the same. Luffy was obviously confused.

"What is happening to you two?" He asked, curious.

It was my turn to be surprised. Since we stayed quiet, he continued.

"You're acting strangely!" He protested. "You don't talk to each other anymore, you don't laugh together, you don't even look each other's way!"

I couldn't help but look down as he was talking.

"You got along so well before! You even were-"

"Luffy!"

I interrupted him without even realizing it. He looked at me with big eyes. I almost never raised my voice, he must have been startled. I shifted nervously my weight on one foot, then the other, and I finally offered an awkward smile.

"We should move on now, or we'll be late for school!"

I turned tail and almost ran to save myself.

"But the bell will only ring in 20 minutes…" I heard Luffy mumble in my back.

xXxXxXxXxXx

Slowly, I rang the bell and waited for someone to answer. I didn't have to wait long as the door opened seconds later. A young woman in her twenties appeared, a baby in her arms. Not really tall, she had long black hair and pale green eyes. We could see a small bump on her stomach, an obvious sign that she was pregnant. In her arms, a one year old little girl played with her necklace that the woman had around her neck. She looked exactly like her mother, except for her eyes. They were black instead of green.

"Cerys!" The woman happily exclaimed.

I smiled.

"Hi, big sis."

Without a warning, I felt an extra weight against my legs. A blond head looked up, his big black eyes filled with stars.

"Cece!"

I took my nephew in my arms and he immediately buried his face in my neck. Well, look who missed me! My sister invited me to come in. Once inside, I put down the 2 and half year old boy. He instantly took my hand in his and guided me throughout the house. I complied, amused. He dragged me over to the kitchen, where a marvelous smell escaped the oven. He climbed on a chair and showed me the one next to him, obviously wanting me to do the same. I did so. He proudly pointed at a piece of paper on the table, a drawing he did. I complimented him and ruffled his hair. He protested, even though I could see how happy he was. He went back to his drawing and took another piece of paper. Leïla entered the room, her daughter still in her arms. She put her on the ground, and as soon as she was free, she got up and wandered around, searching for something to chew on.

"Your husband is not home yet?" I asked her curiously.

She put out the chicken from the oven with her kitchen gloves.

"He will arrive soon, he had to do some overtime at work."

As soon as she said that, her face changed, as if she was remembering something. She froze, a quiet Ah! escaping her.

"Two more people will join us tonight. You don't mind, right?"

I shook my head and she looked relieved. She resumed her cooking with the addition of my help and we talked for several minutes, especially about her little family. Her two children, William and Lizzy, were growing up well, as well as the child inside her stomach. She was already at her twentieth week and everything was going well. She could discover the sex of the baby, but she preferred not to, waiting instead at birth.

Just as dinner was ready, I heard the front door open, and three male voices echoed in the house. William rushed onto the floor and ran to meet up with his father. After a couple of seconds, the husband of my sister entered the room, his son in his arms. Marco was a man with a signature hair style, if we could even qualify it as much. His blond hair stuck on his head and made me think of a pineapple. Even with that strange face, he was an admirable man. He was nice, funny, generous, and above all, he loved my sister like no one else. He was the ideal brother-in-law.

Behind him was Ace, his college from work. The two of them had a job in a garage. "Whitebeard garage". A name inspired by its owner, Edward Newgate, that had.. A white beard. I had never met the man, but I heard that he was quite imposing, to say the least. And behind Ace was… Luffy. Of course. How could he resist the envy of coming when he knew my sister was cooking?

After greetings, shorten by protestations of a two-legs glutton that demanded food (even if he wasn't in his own house.. How rude!), we seated ourselves around the table to savor (devour for some) my sister's talented cuisine. Everything was merry until Leïla brought up the subject I didn't want to talk about, especially in front of my locker comrade.

"So, everything is going well with Law?" She asked, clueless of my delicate situation.

I stopped breathing for a few seconds. Luffy looked at me, question marks written all over his face.

"Law?" He said, confused.

I nervously laughed.

"Yeah, she's asking how's it going in school, in my biology class! She met up with my teacher at the beginning of the semester, replacing my parents, and since I have some difficulties in that course, she worries!"

I laughed again before staring at my plate. Leïla was confused by my words, but she didn't dwell on it. I didn't talk about my cohabitation with Law to anyone, except some teachers and the principal of the high school. Can you imagine the crazy rumours that would follow such news, if people knew? I don't even want to think about it…

Fortunately, the conversation took a turn and another subject took place, to my greatest relief. Soon, everyone finished their plate, even when Luffy took his third one. My sister and I took the dishes as everyone else slipped away to the living room. As the water was running in the sink, I decided to wash, while Leïla dried the dishes.

"Cerys?"

"Yeah?"

"How's Law?"

A sigh escaped me.

"Good, I guess."

She shook her head.

"You still hate him as much, uh?"

"Always."

It was her turn to let out a sigh.

"Even so, when we were kids, you kinda liked him, if I remember correctly. And the feeling was mutual."

I bursted out laughing. A bitter laugh.

"Where did you saw that I liked him?! And that it was his case too?"

She gave me a shrug.

"He loved to bother you."

I raised an eyebrow.

"And THAT'S a sign of affection?"

She smiled.

"Boys often like to bother girls that they like. Remember how Marco acted around me before we started going out."

"It's not the same!" I protested. "In Marco's case, it was an affective bother. With Law, it's just pure torture."

"Yet, it was only with you that he acted this way. Why do you think that?"

I stared at her as if she was stupid.

"Huh, I don't know, maybe because he loved to torture me? In any case, how do you want me to know? I'm not in his head!"

She sighed and left me alone for thirty seconds.

"So, how's your love life?"

"Leïla.."

She laughed.

"What? I can't be curious about the romance stories my little sister can offer?" She playfully said.

My turn to sigh.

"Not at the moment. However…"

She looked at me, intrigued. I put on a mischievous smile.

"That Ace, he's not bad! Do you think he's single?"

She raised her eyes to the ceiling. I laughed. We finished washing the dishes while discussing about the boys in the other room. She proposed that I could try going out with Luffy and I winced while telling her it was as if I would consider going out with my cousin. She didn't insist any further. Once the dishes were dry and put away, I washed my hand while she headed towards the hallway to go to the living room.

"Think what you want, I still think you should try it with Law. You won't find another man who will know you like he does!"

She disappeared. I followed her while mumbling and grumbling.


	4. An Eventful Day

**An Eventful Day, Chapter Four**

For twenty minutes now, I stared at the ceiling in my bedroom, comfortably lying down on my bed. Last night had been quite tiring. Between the monsters known as my nephew and niece, who didn't let go of me one second during the evening, and Luffy who was just as excited as them, the first thing I did when I got back home was collapse on my bed without bothering taking my clothes off to put on my pyjamas. Seconds later, I was fast asleep.

Thanks to the strange conversation I had with my sister, my night was punctuated with weird dreams where I was a child again. Law, in his adult self, proclaimed his love to me in a non-him fashion, with roses and chocolates. Then, Ace appeared out of nowhere and said that I was HIS girlfriend. The two of them got in a fight. Aaaaand, I woke up. Let's just say that I was still confused from my dream (nightmare), which would explain my staring contest.

Since I was not going to stay in that position all day long, I slowly got up. My blanket fell on my side as I was putting my feet on the ground. I noticed that it was only 8h20 in the morning. I sighed. I didn't get to enjoy sleeping in on a day off because of my horrible dream. I got to my drawer with a grunt and searched for random t-shirt and shorts. I lazily put them on without bothering to put on socks before exiting my room. I stopped and listened. Only the regular sound of the clock could be heard in the kitchen. Which meant Law was still asleep. I murmured a silence Yes! and made my way through the hallway. I got myself a quick breakfast that consisted of a bowl of cereals, some fruits and a big glass of milk before going in the living room. I put them on the little table beside the couch and I slouched down on the furniture. I nonchalantly took the remote to turn on the TV.

The first channel to pop up was the news. I immediately changed it. Then came a child's program. I didn't even wait for it to appear on screen before changing again. CSI New York? I considered the option before choosing against it. It wasn't a bad show, but each episode resembled the last, so… Furthermore, half of it already played. Then, the first movie of Harry Potter popped up. I thought for a couple of seconds and put down the remote on the table to get up against my will. I can't even count how many times I watched that movie, I could recite the entire script if I wanted to, even before the characters themselves said it. I approached the television and crouched down in front of it, where the DVD drawer was. Law should have some good series or movies in there. I started my search, and got immediately disappointed. The first few DVDs were documentaries. Awesome. Then, slowly but surely, different movies showed up, some as old as the 80s. The more I dug up, the more I started to worry. What if I find porno in there? I think I would be traumatise for life if I ever found one in here. But he wouldn't leave them in the open, right? Or maybe I was just worried over nothing, maybe he didn't have one at all. Still, he's a man, and he has needs like all of us…

I shook my head like a madman while grimacing. No need to traumatise myself! I didn't want to have even worst nightmares tonight..

Then, like a savior, my eyes caught sign of something to alter my train of thoughts. The Lord of the Rings trilogy. It has been a century since I watched those movies! But the short versions were three hours each, and I still had to make lunch.. I just had to do the two things at the same time. It was one of the perks to have both room across from each other.

Without delay, I took the package and opened it. I carefully took out the first movie and put it in the DVD player. I bolted towards the couch and comfortably vouched myself on it.

During long minutes, I just sat there watching peacefully while eating my breakfast. Just as Frodo and Sam were meeting up with Merry and Pippin, I heard loud and dragging footsteps coming from the hallway. I glanced over my shoulder to see Law emerging from the door frame, his messy hair and dark circles illuminating his face. He lazily scratched his belly with a yawn. Then, he finally noticed the turned-on TV that I was watching. He stared at it a couple of seconds before speaking.

"What are you doing?"

What I was doing? Is he blind or something? Maybe he wants me to draw him a picture.

"I'm watching a movie?" I raised an eyebrow.

He smirked at me like I was dumb. That fuelled a little bit my wrath.

"You know" he began, like I was 4 years old, "the chores won't get done on their own. Laundry neither."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"It's only 8am! I can do them this afternoon!" I protested.

He didn't say a word, he just kept on staring at me. I was losing my patience.

"And even so, why am I always the one doing chores?" I was starting to get mad. "I always cook each dish, you can at least help me clean the house! Why don't you take your part of the charges, uh?!"

If he was losing his patience, he didn't let it show. He remained calm to answer.

"Who pays rent? Food? Electricity? Internet?"

"My parents offered you to pay for my part, you were the one who refused!"

I fixed him angrily, and he remained unfazed, like always. Our competition went on until I was the one to give up. When he was like that, I didn't have any chance to win and make him go back on his words, or even change his mind. I sighed furiously and got up against my will while taking my dirty dishes. I passed him by staring at him, and he just smirked deviously before taking my place and continuing where I left off. I cursed him under my breath as I was putting my dishes in the sink. I had to get prepared for a morning full of cleaning, folding and scrubbing.

xXxXxXxXxXx

After cleaning the floors with the vacuum cleaner, dusting the entire house, washing and folding the laundry, cleaning the bathroom, cooking lunch and doing the dishes, I finally finished doing the chores for today (at least until Law find something else for me to do). I could finally relax, and I was quite proud of the amount of work I did in such a short time. I could finally do what I wanted. Since I wanted to move a little, I decided to play my old game of _Dance Dance Revolution_ on Playstation 2. I went to my room to get my console and brought it to the living room only to realize Law was still hauled down on the couch, watching TV. Didn't he have something better to do? Like correct homework or prepare his next course for Monday?

"Laaaw?" I sweetly said to coax him.

He didn't as much as move a muscle to show me he heard what I said. I didn't let that discourage me and I posted myself in front of him.

"Can you leave me your place so I can play my game?"

He finally fixed his eyes on me, bored as always.

"Come on! I did everything you asked of me! I deserve a reward, don't you think?" I begged him.

He just sat there, looking at me for a couple of seconds, without any reaction. Then, he returned to watch the television, which I took for a yes. I put down the console in front of the TV and plugged it in. I turned it on and returned to my bedroom so I could go find my pad, which was under my bed. I took the game case and came back to the living room. I installed my pad on the ground, plugged it in the console and put the game inside of it. While I waited for the screen to pop up, I looked over my shoulder. Law stared in front of him with a bored expression. He had the intention of staying there and watch me play? I preferred not, but.. Let's just say that having his eyes fixed on my back while I played didn't enchant me.

I tried my best to ignore him and focus on the screen. I choose the free mode and picked a random song. I fixed the difficulty and launched the song. I haven't even done half of it When I heard laugh resonating behind me. I ignored it, but as the song was progressing, the laugh just intensified. When it was over, I quickly turned around and glared angrily at Law, and he miserably failed at concealing his laugh.

"Is there something you found funny?" I furiously asked.

He still laughed as he answered.

"Is this supposed to be dancing?" He asked, teasing.

I looked at the ceiling, exasperated.

"It's a game! How do you want it to resemble dancing when the only thing I'm doing is stepping on arrows?"

He stifled another laugh.

"You mostly look like a trout trying to dance."

My mouth fell. Did he just call me a trout? My eyes threw daggers.

"And you, you're an expert at dancing, I bet?!" I viciously said.

He displayed his signature disturbing smirk. He slowly got up and walked over to me. Without a warning, he placed his hand on the small of my back and took my hand in his to get me flush against his chest. My eyes doubled size. What the hell was he doing?

He gently took a step forward, two step back, and he smoothly guided my steps. Too stunned to react, I just let him do what he wanted. Just like a puppet in his arms, he led me forward, backward, to the left, to the right, he made me spin around. My movements were in perfect synchronisation with his, as if our two bodies were one. He took us across the entire room, his movements with a surprising elegance to them. Bepo looked at us as a mere bystander, hypnotised by the gestures of his owner. The fact that no music was playing in the room didn't even phase Law. Then, to end our "dance", he softly lowered my back, just like in movies.

He slowly brought me up with a delicacy that I didn't know he possessed. My body was again flushed against him and he stayed still for a couple of seconds. My forehead barely went to his shoulder. I could smell a faint scent of spices and cologne. My head spun. Why did he not let me go? My heart skipped a beat. My cheeks burned hot. Close. He was too close!

Just then, the phone decided to ring. It made us jump, and quietly, he released me. I almost bolted to the telephone and took a deep breath before answering.

"Hello?"

"Hey Cerys, it's Nami!" Said an energic voice on the other line.

I sighed. She had incredible timing. Then, a terrifying thought got to me. What if it was Law that answered instead of me? I would have been in big trouble.. Maybe it was time for me to buy a cellphone.

"Are you free now, like immediately?" She suddenly asked.

During a split second, my eyes wandered around the room. Law had disappeared.

"I am. Why?"

"Well…"

xXxXxXxXxXx

"Look at that skirt, it's so cute! Do you think it would look good on me?" Asked my friend as she admired a little white skirt on display in a window shop.

She fixed the object she lusted for before her gaze caught the numerous bags in her hands.

"Don't you think you bought enough clothes for today?" I made a remark with a nod towards her bags.

She looked at them a while before gazing up and shrugging her shoulders.

"Maybe you're right." She admitted.

She started to walk again on the sidewalk. I followed her. When the redhead called me, it was so I could escort her while she shopped. And I could observe how good of a negotiator she was. She managed to obtain 50% off articles she pursued in a clothing store a few minutes ago. She can be real persuasive when she wanted to. Poor employee that had to go through her negotiation. He almost cried when we exited the store. Nami was frightening when she wanted to. Even I had cold sweats running down my spine.

A small gust of wind passed through us and brought me back to earth. I raised my head and closed my eyes to enjoy the hot rays of sunshine. With my hurried self earlier, motivated by my need to get out of the house, I totally forgot my camera at home, lonely sitting at my desk. I regretted it deeply right about now. All the great photos I could have took…

I sadly sighed and caught up with Nami who was a little ahead of me. My gaze wandered around lazily and stopped at a certain shop. The window showed proudly vivid orange colours and dark scary black. Specialised in multiple holidays, the shop lived up to its name: the masters of celebration. And since Halloween was in a near future, their exterior dressed in the usually colours of that dreadful day. Many decorations were available, as well as candies that made me drool. And above all, they sold a variety of costumes, all of them as extravagant as it could get. I abruptly stopped Nami by grabbing her wrist. She almost let go of her bags. She stared at me, her gaze a mixture of surprise and anger. I didn't acknowledge the daggers she was sending my way and I pointed at the shop with my finger.

"I want to go there!"

I didn't wait for her answer, I just dragged her behind me and I walked across the street. I opened the front door and heard the bell announce my presence. A woman at the counter happily welcomed me. I did the same before finally letting go of my friend so I could start my treasure hunting. I eagerly scanned the shelfs. Like a child inside a candy shop, I lost control of myself. I rushed over the costume section. Nami reluctantly followed me.

"You know that Halloween is still more than one month away, right? You have plenty of time to look for a costume until them." She tried to reason me.

Her words fell on deaf ears.

"Maybe, but I prefer to go early so I can find the perfect one!"

She sighed loudly, but decided it was futile to try and make me change my mind. She absentmindedly looked around while I avidly searched on my end. I showed her some costumes, asking her which one was better and looked best on me, and without realising, she got influenced by my festive mindset. I was now looking through witch costumes when she asked me a question.

"Why do you love this holiday so much?"

I smiled before returning to my search.

"There is two reasons for that. First, I just love to disguise myself!"

I showed her a fairy costume. She sharply shook her head. I put it back in his place on the shelf with a pout.

"And second, I was born on that day."

She flashed me surprised eyes.

"Your birthday is the 31st of October?"

I nodded. She stopped talking for a bit. After all, I had an unusual birthday. I was born the same day as Halloween, the same day as my favorite detective*! Suddenly, I remembered something. Another person I knew was born on the month of October. The 6th of October, Law was turning 23. Should I buy him something? Unintentionally, earlier played in my mind. The heat of his body against mine, his hand on my back, the grace behind his movements, his scent. I violently shook my head. No, I did not want to remember that! I rapidly looked around me to find something to cleanse my mind. And I did find something.

To my right, there was a beautiful Kendo uniform. A Kendogi. With a nice black Hakama. This made me think of someone else. A guy who was part of the Kendo club. Zoro.

Sad and repulsed by my own thoughts, I turned tail and got out of the shop, Nami not far behind, confused.

"Are you alright?" She asked upon seeing my face, concerned.

I abruptly stopped and turned towards her. She nearly missed dropping her bags on the floor by charging into me.

"I'm hungry. Do you want to go eat at the Baratie?"

 ***Ryûzaki's (L) birthday in the manga** _ **Death Note**_ **is on October 31st.**


	5. Several Revelations

**Hey there! Just a quick author's note to give you some information. I try to update as regularly as I can (at least once a week), and I already know where I'm going with the story, since it's a translation. There will be 48 chapters (that's a lot!), so no worries, the story's just starting. Some of you seem curious as to Law and Cerys' relationship (how they met, where it's going, etc.). All will be revealed in due time (I'm such a sadist.) I would really like to hear your opinions on this story! Don't hesitate to tell me, I'm always trilled to read your comments! Without further ado, here's chapter five. Enjoy!**

 **Several Revelations, Chapter Five**

The neon's light burned my eyes, but I couldn't get myself to look away. The yellow colour hypnotized me. Sounds around me resonated in my ears like they passed through a filter first. Then, my bubble popped, and I was brought back to earth. I blinked and white spots appeared in my vision. That's what happens when you look too much at direct light. It took me a couple of seconds for my vision to return to normal. I looked down and scanned the area. Dozens of clients peacefully ate at their table.

 _Cerys._

The hubbub they were producing gave me a headache.

"Cerys! You listening?"

Surprised, I turned my head. Sat in front of me, Nami looked half-pissed. Riiight, I was currently at the Baratie with my friend. In this busy hour, the restaurant was quite packed with hungry customers. And I so much loved the crowd…

"Sorry, I spaced out for a second."

She loudly sighed.

"Like I didn't notice.."

My gaze fell and I looked at my plate. A big chicken kebab let out a divine scent. Normally, I would have devoured the meat in less than five minutes. And yet, my appetite died down along the way here. I only ate half of it while Nami finished her main course a long time ago and was savouring her dessert.

"Are you ok?" She asked, visibly worried. "Since we arrived, you seem… preoccupied."

It was my time to sigh. I took my fork and absently poked my food.

"I was thinking about… stuff."

She raised an eyebrow.

"You mean you were thinking about boys, right?"

I rolled my eyes.

"Why does each time a girl is deep in thought, it must necessarily means she's thinking about the opposite sex?"

"It's not your case?"

My gaze returned to my plate and I picked up my previous action, which consisted of playing with my food. Nami showed a mischievous smile.

"You can tell me anything, you know. I won't tell a soul. In exchange of a little compensation, of course." She joked.

I stared at her, my eyes speaking for my mouth: "Are you serious?", they seemed to say. She started to laugh. I sighed.

"I was thinking about my ex." I confessed.

And of someone else, but let's try to forget that one.

"Who is it?"

After asking, she drank her water. I knew it was a bad idea to answer while she was drinking, but I did it anyway. Her reaction will surely make me laugh.

"Zoro."

Like I predicted, she choked on her water. She choked so hard she became as red as a crayfish. She tried to get her breath back. Then, she looked at me with big round eyes, stupefied.

"What?"

I answered her, nonchalant.

"Zoro is my ex-boyfriend."

She coughed again, result of her choking.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

I shrugged. "You never asked."

She pinched the bridge of her nose with an annoyed face. I smiled innocently.

"I thought he was gay." She said to herself.

I bursted out laughing. "Where did you get that idea?" I asked her between two laughs.

My cheerfulness was contagious and soon, she smiled.

"I don't know. He didn't seem to be interested in women in general, so…"

I shook my head. It was only because it wasn't his priority, in contrary of a certain blond hair. Slowly, Nami's seriousness returned.

"Why did you thought of him?" She curiously said.

I stopped moving and thought for two seconds. Why was I thinking so frequently of him in the first place? Did I still love him?

…No. That was not it. It was rather guilt that was eating me up. I decided to end our relationship while he still loved me. I made him suffer, and I couldn't bear it.

"Our current relationship is.. complicated." I sighed. "I would love if things were like before, when we were still friends.."

She nodded.

"I always thought it was because you two weren't close that you didn't speak that often with each other, but now I understand."

I put down my fork. My appetite was now minus ten, and on top of that, I was nauseous. I got up and offered my friend a sorry smile.

"I should get going, it's late."

She smiled at me.

"Alright. Are you sure you're ok?"

I nodded before looking one last time at her. I marched towards the exit. I passed through the reception to pay my bill and I walked through the front door.

The minute I stepped outside, I felt the icy wind of the night piercing through my soul. The days were as hot as the nights were cold. I didn't have a hoodie to keep warm, so I put my hands on my arms and rubbed vigorously to create some friction. I slowly walked down the path. I was strolling down the street, taking big detours to lengthen my walk back. I had no desire to return immediately home. I preferred getting lost in my thoughts. Alone.

Without noticing, I arrived at the entrance of a small park that was more than familiar. I often lost track of time here in my youth, with my sister and even Law. I laughed often here, screamed, pouted, even cried. Law just adored to find plenty of bugs to throw at me, or put them in my clothes. I was now immune to them because of him. However, I would still prefer not to be, if it could avoid me years of traumatising memories, especially big ass spiders that I was sure in my 7 year old mind could eat me alive.

A lot of moments haunted this place. Some happy, others not so. And It was a special place I shared with my past love. I met him here, he confessed his love in this very spot, I shared my first kiss with him in this park. And I broke up with him here as well. I won't ever forget his eyes that night, full of sadness, before they turned cold a second later, never showing any emotion.

Slowly, I made my way towards the only swing in the tiny park. I sat down, rocking forward, and I let gravity do its job. I grabbed on firmly so I wouldn't fall, and I closed my eyes. For a moment, I fell back into childhood.

For a moment, I was a little girl again.

xXxXxXxXxXx

I gently opened the front door and silently closed it behind me. I turned around and heard voices coming from the end of the corridor. I looked down to take off my shoes and I noticed two more peers that weren't here when I left earlier. We had guests over? And from what I could perceive from the kitchen, it was two men. Prudently, I carefully walked on my tiptoes and went over my bedroom door. I slowly opened it, as silent as I could be. I was about to cross the door step. And Bepo had to ruined all my efforts.

Like every time I get home, he showed his happiness to see me by planting himself in front of my feet and mewing. So loud we could hear him across the hallway. And as if it wasn't enough, he didn't just do it two or three times, no. He meowed about twenty times, to make sure he was heard. I heisted to look, but I finally turned my gaze. At the end of the hallway, I saw a face staring. And it wasn't Law. I loudly sighed. Goodbye my subtlety.

"Hey Law, there's a girl in your apartment. Is it normal?" I could hear him say.

I closed my eyes and prayed it was just a dream. I felt something brush against my leg. I opened my eyes and lowered my gaze to the floor, where Bepo scrubbed against me. It was not a dream. In that exact moment, I cursed the little furry ball.

Resilient, I walked across the hallway and entered the room. Three men were seated in front of the table, and two of them were directly looking at me.

The first one had a funny cap/toque on his head, with big letters that formed the word Penguin. The second one had long brown hair and he hurried and put his cap back on when he noticed me staring. I noted he had strange tattoos on his forearms. The two of them looked at me with big eyes.

"She sure is cute!" Said the first one.

I stayed sceptical hearing him. I tried to cross eyes with Law to communicate all my distress, but he obstinately stared into space.

"And you are..?" I said with a small voice, nervous.

The one who spoke seconds ago suddenly got up.

"My, I'm so rude!" He exclaimed. "My name is Penguin, at your service!"

With that, he bowed.

…

 _Penguin_? Were his parents drunk when they named him? Or maybe they were high, the two reasons are valid. Unless it was a nickname.

The other pushed him out of the way to take his place, afraid his friend would steal the spotlight.

"And I'm Shachi! Don't mind this dumbass who thinks he's so interesting!"

Penguin quickly got over the "attack" of the brunet and they started to bicker like an old couple. I stayed immobile, not knowing what to do. Well, Law wasn't a big help here.

"Cerys." I finally whispered.

Immediately, the two stopped fighting each other.

"My name. It's Cerys."

The two men looked at each other and realisation illuminated their eyes.

"You're the little Cerys!" Cried Penguin.

I frowned. They knew who I was?

"You're right! Law told us about you!" Said Shachi.

Penguin nodded. "It's true, he even said before that-"

He got cut by the main subject. Law got up and hit the table with his hands.

"It's getting late. You should go now."

The guests started to complain.

"But we just got here!" Whined Penguin before throwing me a look. "I would like to know the little Cerys better!"

His friend supported him.

"Exactly! And even so, the night's still young! That's why I brought…"

He left his words in the air while walking towards the chair he just sat on. He leaned down and took a bag next to it, which I didn't notice until now. He put it on the table and dumped its content on the top of it.

"…This!"

There was a least six bottles of booze. They came just to get drunk?

Law sighed, but complied, like he knew he wouldn't win if he tried to get them to leave. He might as well leave them be. He turned around and searched through the kitchen cabinet to pull out three glasses and put them on the table before sitting down again. He had the intention of drinking himself? I never saw him drunk. Maybe it'll be funny to watch. Or scary. Depending on which kind of drunk he was.

Shachi and Penguin recovered their good mood upon seeing Law so consenting of their night of drinking.

"Good!" Exclaimed Shachi, happy.

The two sat down, and I decided to do the same. I took the last empty chair.

"Cerys, are you drinking with us?" Asked Penguin.

I immediately answered.

"No!" I said, and I was surprise to hear Law say the same thing.

"You don't want to?"

"No."

I never drank in my entire life, and I would not start today. I didn't want myself to be on all fours at the end of the night, taking a bath in my own vomit. But I wondered why my teacher refused as well. What was it to him, if I drank or not?

"I see.. Oh well!"

Shachi started to serve the three men with his alcoholic liquid.

xXxXxXxXxXx

"You're sure you don't want some, even just a tiny sip?" Asked Shachi for the twentieth time.

I sharply shook my head. He shrugged and emptied his glass in one gulp. He took the bottle that was at his feet and filled one more time his glass. How many did he had so far? I lost count at the eighth one. I looked over my shoulder to observe the kitchen. Penguin wiggled on the music playing in the background, which was put earlier by the two friends who insisted, so the "heat could rise". Law watched him, a weariness expression on his face, but a discreet smirk on his lips. His hand circled his glass laid in front of him, half empty. I was disappointed (glad?) upon observing he was a calm drunk. His behavior didn't change that much, in fact. He was just a bit more talkative.

I returned my attention to my new friend that was by my side, comfortably sat on my left on the couch. Without a warning, I asked him a question that had no connection to the previous conversation.

"How long have you known Law?" I said, curious.

He looked at his rum glass like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"Five years now, I think? He had just started his studies to become a teacher."

Five years.. It was the exact same time he disappeared. When I was 11 years old, he mysteriously disappeared when he just finished his high school years. During five years, I hadn't heard a single word from him, No news, not even a phone call. Then, this past beginning of summer, he showed up again, out of nowhere, like nothing happened, and he found a job at the nearest school. Now that I was thinking about it, it was around that time I broke up with Zoro.

"I remember how he used to talk about you all the time." He suddenly said, getting me out of my own mind.

I stared, incredulous. He talked about me? Yeah, right. If he really did do so, it must have been to make fun of the poor little girl I was back then.

"Seriously?" I asked, sceptical.

He smiled and nodded.

"He used to tell us how much he loved to tease you, and how easily you got frustrated with him."

Teasing wasn't the right word. Torturing was a better choice.

"And he also said how you were adorable in these situations."

I froze. I must have heard wrong. There was no other explanation.

"Adorable?"

Shachi nodded again. I shook my head. Not possible. It was unrealistic for Trafalgar Law to say (or even think!) such things about me.

I turned my head to look behind me. As if he knew what we were talking about, Law stared at me and smirked. I avoided his gaze, my cheeks on fire.


	6. A Tought Next Day

**A Tough Next Day, Chapter Six**

I sensed something soft. Soft and warm. Incredibly warm. So comfortable. I reached out for this heat, needing to be closer to it. I moved my hand and grabbed a silky cloth. My face got closer so I could rub my nose to it. Hmm, it smelled nice…

Suddenly, my confused brain, still asleep, slowly started to wake up. Something soft. Warm. Silky. Which smelled nice. It was not normal! I hastily opened my eyes. In front of me, a man slept peacefully. His regular breath warmed my face. His right arm was loosely hung around my waist. Law was there. In front of me. In my bed. I screamed.

Panic came over me as I backed away as fast as I could from the 22 year old man. This resulted in my falling from the bed. My head banged heavily against the floor, my two arms doing the same. I wasn't entirely on the ground, my feet in the air, hanging on the edge of the bed. I grunted in pain.

I heard a sigh coming from higher, the bed shifted and silence fell back on the room. Before getting up, I inspected my body. I still had last night's clothes. It was a good sign. (What? We never know…) With difficulty, I got up and looked at my bed. Law was still sleeping soundly, he simply changed his position.

Well, now that I was completely awake (thanks to my painful fall), I was in the right to ask a question that, I think, was important and relevant. What the hell was Law doing in my bed?! Was he so drunk last night he forgot where his bedroom was and decided to sleep in my bed instead? Even if I searched my memories, I couldn't find a valid explanation for this. I remembered his two friends, Penguin and Shachi, visiting last night. The three men started to drink like a fish, and then I sat on the couch with Shachi. We talked a while, and… Nothing. I couldn't remember what came after that, it was pitch black.

So, if I wanted answers, I first had to wake him up. On the other hand, if I did that, I put my life on the line. Was it really worth it?

…

…Maybe I should wait until he awoke to ask him any questions.

Slowly, I walked around my bed to get to the exit. I opened the door and closed it silently behind me. A sigh escaped my lips. I next headed towards the kitchen, but stopped in front of the bathroom's door. It was ajar, so I couldn't really see on the other side, but I could still imagine what was happening in there. By the wonderful noise I heard, someone was throwing out their guts in the toilet. I'm guessing the two friends of Law spent the night over. And one of them was as we spoke in front of toilet bowl. Awesome. I just cleaned it yesterday…

I continued my journey towards the kitchen and finally arrived at destination. Shachi, visibly in a good mood, was humming a tune I did not know while he searched the cabinets for something he could chew on. When he noticed my presence, his smile widened.

"Cerys, good morning!" He loudly and happily said, for someone who just spent last night drinking. "Sleep well?"

My sleep? Wonderful! Waking up? A little brutal.

For an answer, I smiled.

"Are you hungry?" I asked him. "Do you want me to fix you something up?"

He vigorously nodded and hurried over a chair in front of the table. I shook my head while giggling and took out my cooking binder to find a pancake recipe.

"You seem well, for someone who drank I don't know how many bottles last night."

He shrugged.

"I'm more surprised to see YOU so well this morning, after the liquor quantity you ingested."

I stopped what I was doing to stare at him. I drank last night? What was he talking about? As if he heard my silence question, he raised an inquiring eyebrow.

"You don't remember?

I shook my head. He sighed.

"The first time you're drunk, and you don't even remember it.." He said, disappointed.

I turned around and got all the ingredients I needed for my recipe.

"What exactly happened?" I asked.

Maybe he could tell me why Law was in my bed.

"You and I had a discussion last night, and then…"

 _I turned around, my cheeks on fire. I could feel his persistent eyes on my skull. My head spun._

" _Cerys, you alright?_ " _Asked Shachi. "You're all red."_

 _I could fell my heat rising up._

" _I don't know." I sincerely said. "It's hot. I…"_

 _I noticed the glass he had in his hand._

" _Give me that!"_

 _I took the glass before he had time to protest. I was so thirsty.. Without an once of hesitation, I gulped down its content in one go. The liquid burned my throat and left a bitter taste in my mouth. I winced. It was not water! It was.. His alcohol drink._

… _Damnit._

"It only took one glass for you to get drunk. After that, you demanded glasses after glasses. I couldn't even count how many you had, you just swallowed them so fast!"

I understood now why I didn't remember a single thing from last night. However, it did not explain why Law was in my head this morning. In fact, did I really want to know why?

Speaking of the devil, he entered the kitchen, and he seemed to be in an even bigger pissed off mood then usual. He made himself a cup of coffee while sending killer vibes to anyone who dared disturb him (aka Shachi. As for Penguin, he was still making friends with the toilet). He wasn't immune to hangovers, I see. I didn't want to be mean by saying (thinking) that, but… Good for him. As if he heard my thoughts, he turned my way and gave me a pitch-black stare. I tried to ignore him and I returned to my preparations.

xXxXxXxXxXx

" _Weee!" I suddenly exclaimed. "It is time for the incredible Cerys' show! *Hic*"_

 _I quickly got up from the couch and I went over to the kitchen's table. Is it me, or is the floor moving on its own?_

 _Once there, I indicated the others to shut up and listen to what I had to say. They did as told, and Law added a sigh._

" _I'm gonna climb on this table and I will show you how to dance like pros!"_

 _Penguin and Shachi applauded upon my words and cheered me on. I gave them a small bow before putting my knees on the table. With great difficulty, I managed to get on top. Penguin turned up the volume and I slowly started to show them my dance moves. Normally, I would be dying of shame right about now, but I wasn't in a position where I could think clearly._

 _Penguin and Shachi whistled upon seeing my dance moves, while Law rolled his eyes. He finally turned down the music volume and went over to me when he saw the third time I almost fell down due to my horrible dance skills._

" _You showed us how you can dance like a trout, we get it. Now get down." He said, a smirk on his face._

 _My mouth fell. He just insulted me and called me a trout again! I crossed my arms and pouted. Like I was listening to him after he called me that! My behavior didn't phase him in the least. On the contrary, he was amused._

" _If you want, I can show you again how to dance."_

 _Even if my cheeks were still red due to the alcohol in my veins, they burned even more. Since I wanted to avoid any physical contact with him, I decided to obey him. But instead of sitting down and get down on the floor, I thought like a drunk person and decided that the best solution was to jump off the table. I moved forward my foot so I could jump. Instead, it slipped again. Fortunately (unfortunately?), Law was in front of me and reacted accordingly. Just when I thought I didn't want to make contact with him…_

 _He gently put me down and for once, he was quiet. Hi scent overran me and clouded my mind. Mix this with the alcohol and my brain was idling._

 _Since his arms were still around me to support my weigh, I took advantage of it and slipped my hands under his shirt to explore his chest. The men's eyes doubled size._

" _Ah, your muscles are more firm than I imagined."_

 _Penguin and Shachi bursted out laughing. I continued my exploration and left shivers on my path._

" _Cerys…" Said Law, his voice dangerously low._

 _I gazed up and met his eyes. They seemed to be clouded._

" _Let go of me."_

 _I put on a pout. Why should I listen to him once more? I ignored his words and kept on running my fingers against his skin. He stiffened._

" _Even I have limits.." He murmured so low I was the only one to hear._

 _His limits? What was he on about? Visibly irritated by my behavior, he got me on his shoulder like I was a vulgar potato bag. A cry escaped my throat and my feet swung violently on their own accord in front of him._

" _Let me down!" I yelled._

 _He ignored me like I did earlier and dragged me to my room. He opened the door, got over to my bed and let me rudely fall on it. He took a blanket at my feet and covered me from head to toe. By reflex, I put it down a bit so I could see something._

" _Sleep." He simply said._

 _What? But I wasn't even tired! I opened my mouth to protest, but his stare was enough to make me shut up. I reluctantly agreed. He turned around to get out, but I stopped him by grabbing his hand._

" _Wait, don't leave me alone!"_

 _He turned again to look at me._

" _I'm nauseous.. "_

 _He stared at me, one eyebrow up. I could almost see a question mark on top of his head. "What does that have to do with anything?" his eyes seemed to say._

" _Just think about it!" I said, falsely panicked. "I could drown on my own vomit!"_

 _He rolled his eyes, but still decided to stay with me. He gestured at me so I could make him some space and he sat on the edge of the bed. I closed my eyes and I realized I was more tired than I thought. Unconsciously, my body got closer to Levi's so I could apprehend his warmth. My hand naturally searched for his contact and it grabbed his shirt. Before I fell asleep, I felt Law getting under the blanket._

AAAH!

I got up and screamed my guts out. My memory came back to me, and truth be told, I would have preferred living in ignorance. Did I really do that?

"Is there something you don't understand, Miss Cerys?" Teased Law, in front of the board.

I hastily sat down and dived my nose in my biology book. I heard laughter all around me. My cheeks got red from embarrassment and shame. I just HAD to remember this in his class…

"Now, I want you all to get your partner and do the lab like I told you to."

The students got up and found their teammate for the lab. A shadow appeared on my desk and I looked up. Zoro looked down at me. That's right, he was my assigned partner for the year in biology class, decision made by Trafalgar Law himself. If I could, I would have dropped my head on the desk.

"Do you want to do it here or at my desk?"

He didn't have to hear my response to know the answer. Two girls already appropriated the area. He went to pick up the lab's material in the front and came back with what we needed. While he did that, I emptied my desk of any useless object to make some space. He put down what he brought and took a near chair to sit on. We worked in silence during long minutes, mixing all kinds of multicolored liquids and noting their reactions. Zoro finally broke the silence.

"Luffy told me you parents moved out of the country?"

I nodded.

"They are in Egypt now."

He smiled.

"Not too lonely?"

I gave him a playful hit by reflex. I was surprised by my reaction.

"Not at all."

This time, a small giggle escaped my lips. How long as it been since we last talked like this?

"You said before you felt lonely when they went away, I was just wondering."

I put on a pout, but couldn't help a smile from crossing my lips. Slowly but surely, we talked about nothing and everything. Just like when we were friends. Then, almost while whispering, his voice changed, more serious.

"You can stop, you know."

He stared at me with his deep black eyes.

"I know you. You feel guilty about what happened. Stop. It was not your fault."

I opened my mouth, and closed it two seconds later. I didn't know what to say to that. And even so, he was right.

I sighed and absentmindedly mixed another liquid with a past experiment we did not long ago. Its reaction was quite surprising. The liquid ascended, ascended, and overflowed the container. And it didn't stop there. It flowed over my desk.

By reflex, Zoro and I almost jumped up from our seats so we would not get wet. We stared at each other, and as the tension was dropping, we bursted out laughing.

xXxXxXxXxXx

My hood on my head, I walked as fast as I could back home. A rough rain started to fall this afternoon, just before the end of class. Since I didn't bring an umbrella, I was wet to the bones. I hated the rain. My pictures were never beautiful when I tried to take some during this kind of weather.

Even with the rain, I couldn't help but smile. I succeeded on talking to Zoro, to have a real conversation with him. We weren't best friend forever, but it was a start. And I think I was not the only one happy about this. When I went to my locker after class, Zoro followed me so we could continue our conversation, and when Luffy saw us.. He literally jumped on us. If it wasn't for Zoro, we would have fallen on the floor. And my back would have strongly protested.

Without looking where I was going, I walked fast, my head low, so I could finally arrive at a dry destination. And with my legendary luck, I managed to charge on someone. I gazed up and saw a gigantic man. He must at least measure two meters. My neck had to contort in an unpleasant position so I could see his face. He had blond hair, and I could not see his eyes, hidden behind his sunglasses, even if right now, there was no sun. And he had.. interesting clothes.. with his bright pink feather coat. His strange smirk disturbed me a little.

I apologised real quick and I bypassed him so I could continue my path. Out of curiosity, I looked over my shoulder after walking a couple of meters. He had his eyes glued on me, his smirk still present. I walked faster.


	7. Occupation : Waitress (Sick on the Side)

**Occupation : Waitress (Sick on the Side), Chapter Seven**

Out of breath and sweaty, I walked towards the woman's changing room with difficulty so I could change back into my uniform and out of my drenched karateka. Today, Garp-sensei had been particularly harsh for our karate class, especially on Luffy. I pitied him, to have a grandfather like that.. I opened the door and got in. I hurried and changed my clothes as fast as lighting. I get out of the room while drinking a mouthful of water from my bottle, and I noticed my straw-hat friend just changed like I did. For once, he seemed out of breath and strength. When our eyes crossed, he offered me a smile full of compassion.

"Training wasn't too hard on you?"

He only grunted as a response. I put my head my hand on his shoulder to try to comfort him and we went over the dojo's exit. The dojo was on a separate building than the main school building (just like the Kendo one), thus we had to go across the schoolyard to get to our locker. However, it was raining bullets for two days straight, which forced us to run under the heavy rain if we didn't want to get wet like ducks once inside. Luffy and I exchanged a desperate glance. We were hot, and every muscle in our body hurt like hell. I'm gonna feel it tomorrow morning…

We both agreed to run as fast as we could under the beating rain. Even if we got wet, we bursted out laughing. Once in a safe place, we tried to get our breath back, completely out of it, but a smile played on our lips. We slowly walked towards our locker.

"Ah man, I totally forgot my umbrella at home!" Suddenly exclaimed Luffy while putting his hands on his head in a dramatic way.

I shook my head, amused. He turned towards me and gave me puppy eyes. I tried to resist, but my will was not strong enough. I sighed.

"You want to share mine?" I proposed.

He furiously nodded when we got to our locker. I did the password on the padlock and opened the door. I took my bag and got out of the way to let my friend do the same. He took at the same time my umbrella, then closed the locker's door and we made our way back to the school's entrance. On one of the bulletin board, a particular paper caught my attention. It talked about being independent by finding a job, among other things. The ad interested me. Aside for my essential needs, my parents only send me little money to spend. Therefore, I had to save money if I wanted to buy something I wanted. And no way was I asking Law for cash. I'll rather die.

"Hey Luffy, do you know a place where they're hiring?" I asked him without a warning.

He was surprise by my question, but he still thought for a second. He finally clap his hands together when he remembered something.

"Sanji told me they are searching for a waitress at the Baratie, and they accept beginners.

Waitress uh… I was kind of shy, but I believe I could do it. I had a good memory and I wasn't too clumsy.

"Do they still hire?"

Luffy nodded. Suddenly, I saw said blond crossing the front door, followed by a certain green-haired. As always, they were fighting, just like an old couple. Can someone tell why the hell they were always together if they could not get out of each other's hair? I shook my head and started running towards the two young men.

"Sanji!"

xXxXxXxXxXx

I buttoned up my white shirt while I gazed at myself in the girl's changing room. The old Zeff accepted to hire me and see how I would do (thanks a certain blond gentleman's recommendation, who wanted to be loved by the opposite sex (even though with me, it was so he could help a friend)) . After school, I directly went to the restaurant and they showed me where to change after giving me my working uniform. I put on my pale blue tie with the edge white and I tried to tie it properly. It seemed so easy when I saw Law do it all the time, but when I tried to do it, it looked like someone was trying to strangle me. I had trouble breathing. Frustrated, I lost my patience and I madly grunted. Just then, someone knocked at the door, which made me jump.

"Cerys?" I heard the muffled voice of Sanji on the other side. Everything okay in there?"

I crossed the room and violently opened the door to answer. He only had the time to back off so the wood wouldn't collide with his nose. I looked down to show him my problem.

"Can you help me?" I implored him, piteously.

He slowly laughed and approached his hands. His fingers operated their magic and before I could say thank you, he retrieved his hands and left behind him a perfect knot. A pout appeared on my lips upon seeing his work. How come he did it so easily and I couldn't even do it?

"Are you ready?" He gently asked me.

I showed him my index finger to tell him to wait and I came back inside the room. I took my dark blue sleeveless jacket and quickly buttoned it up. I went over the mirror and inspected my appearance. I straighten my jacket, smoothed my skirt to get rid of wrinkles and I put a rebellious hair behind my ear that refused to get inside my ponytail. I smiled at my reflection. Perfect. I returned to Sanji and he explained the restaurant's rules while we walked towards the dining room. I said hello to the employees we came upon, since I already knew the majority.

We finally came upon swing doors, where we could hear a loud hubbub on the other side. Sanji went in first and kept the door open so I could pass. I smiled at him to thank him and he guided me around the counter where the drinks, a door leading to the kitchen, the cash register and the computer to take orders were. He quickly explained how everything worked. Then, he stayed silent. I breathed deeply to calm myself down. The time had come. Just then, a couple entered the restaurant and waited for someone to come to them to assign their place. Sanji smiled at me to encourage me and patted my shoulder before returning to the kitchen. I clenched my fists and let go, took a deep breath, and displayed my most beautiful smile. I then went over the couple with determined steps.

xXxXxXxXxXx

"Haaa, I'm so tired.." I lazily complained.

I stretched with difficulty and looked at the clock on the wall. 8h15 in the afternoon. I only had 45 minutes to work, and I could go home. It only had been 3h15 I worked, but it felt like I did double. I started at dinner time, and I never noticed how much the Baratie was busy around that hour. I now had Jell-O legs and I dreamt of one thing: a long hot bath and a soft bed. Fortunately, I could relax at this hour, the place was almost empty.

For my first day, I thought that I did not do so bad. I didn't drop anything heavy, I didn't mix my orders either, and the customers said I had a very good energy and a nice smile. Luck was on my side for once. I smiled at the thought. I hoped with all my heart the old Zeff would hire me. It was a nice job, and the wage wasn't something to spit at.

While I got lost in my thoughts, the front door opened and a little "Cling!" announced the arrival of a customer. I left my thoughts for another time and put on a shining smile. That quickly faded. Law just got inside the restaurant and offered me a mischievous smirk. Why was he here! I didn't even told him I worked here! How did he.. Maybe he heard the conversation I had with Sanji last night, when he confirmed the old Zeff decided to test me. Inside, I was boiling, but outside, I kept my calm and smiled again. For once, I wouldn't let him ruin my day! I slowly walked towards him.

"Welcome sir!" I feigned cheerfulness. "Are you alone?"

He didn't answer, just continued with his creepy smirk while staring at me. My eye twitched, irritated, but I kept a professional smile on.

"You can follow me." I simply said.

I walked over a table in the back, that way I could easily talk to him without anyone eavesdropping. He obediently followed me, and I could feel his piercing eyes on the back of my head. I felt goosebumps all over my body. We finally arrived at destination and Law silently sat down.

"Do you need a menu?"

He stared, his gaze almost angry.

"I'll just take the dessert menu. Someone was already gone, so I had to do lunch." He accused, emphasizing on the someone part.

I ignored his last comment and turned tail. I took the dessert menu behind the counter and came back towards the last person on Earth I wanted to see right about now. I put down the object in front of him, with a little bit too much force than necessary, and I returned behind the counter. I let a sigh escape me.

What difference did it make if I didn't cook tonight? I wasn't his slave for god's sake! He was a mature and vacined man, he could take care of his own self! I let my anger loose and I burned inside. By the time I treated him of every insult I could find, he decided what he wanted to have and he close the dessert menu to put it in front of him. I sighed a few seconds and I prepared myself mentally of the conversation to come. My fake smile came back and I reluctantly made my way towards the devil himself.

"You've made a choice?" I asked him politely.

"A maple and cheese cake and a coffee."

I took back the menu while carefully avoiding his touch.

"I'll get it right away."

I put his order in the cash register and while I waited, I put his coffee in a mug. I heard the little "Ting!" resonated. I took the small saucer in the hole separating the kitchen from the other room, where cooks gave us our orders, took his mug in my other hand and returned to Law. I put down his food in front of him.

"What are you doing here?" I furiously said.

He shrugged while fixing his plate.

"I was hungry."

I rolled my eyes. It was not the only reason, I could bet my life on it!

"And the real reason?" I asked, irritated.

He finally gazed up to look in my eyes.

"Guess." He said, mischievous.

He took his fork, cut a piece and picked the food to bring it to his lips. They opened slightly and I could see his tongue, barely visible. The sweet treat touched it gently before he closed his lips on the cake. His eyes were still on me and he saw how I observed him. A smirk appeared on his lips while he chewed. I quickly turned my back to him and almost ran to the counter. I could sense my burning cheeks (Red from shyness? Embarrassment? Anger? I did not know.) and I looked back at the clock. Let's just hope this last hour will run us by…

xXxXxXxXxXx

I sighed while taking my waitress uniform off to put on my school one. Law stayed till the last minute of my shift. And his only purpose was to torture me, I was certain of it! Actually, I know the reason of his visit was to bother me even outside of school and home. Can't he just leave me alone for a couple of hours?

I furiously closed my locker behind me, put on my coat and my bag on my back, and got out the changing room. I passed through the hallway and arrived at the back door, which lead outside. I opened it, and a humid and cold wind ran through me. Fall was now getting comfortable and to make matters worst, rain fell since Monday and we were now Thursday. I closed my coat around me, put on my hood and got out. The air was fresh, but at least, there wasn't much wind. But rain wasn't leaving any openings. I stepped on the sidewalk and walked quietly.

I advanced like that for about thirty seconds, until a car pulled over to the left of me. I didn't pay it much attention, at least not until the side window slowly rolled down.

"Do you need a lift?" Asked the driver.

I lowered my head and saw Law inside. What did he want now?

"Is there a trick to it?"

He laughed and shook his head. I had a hard time believing it. It wasn't in his habits to give a helping hand out of the goodness of his heart. Unless…

"You're gonna give me a lift so I owe you something, is that it?" I said, suspicious.

His smirk vanished.

"You can't believe I can help you, just like that, without asking for something in return?" He asked seriously.

I answered without a second thought.

"No."

I saw his face change and become hard, and I did not understand why.

"I see." He simply said.

He closed his window and left in a hurry. His sudden acceleration provoked a precipitation of water that was next to the sidewalk to jump in the air. And where did it fell? On my head. I was now wet from head to toe. My mouth opened wide, astounded. I wanted to scream my hatred for this man, but instead, I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists.

Trafalgar Law, I loath you!

xXxXxXxXxXx

My head against my locker, I found happiness in the fact that it was cold. I had the impression of being on fire.

"Heu, Cerys?"

I turned my head towards Usopp, a common friend of Luffy and myself, who was next to the said brown-hair boy, who was searching through our locker to find his material for our last course.

"You sure you're alright?" He said, worried. "You seem kind of pale."

I tried to smile so I could reassure him, but a poor grimace took its place.

"I'm okay" I said, myself not believing a word I said. "I'm just hot, and my head spins a little, but I'm alright."

He raised his eyebrows, more and more concerned. Luffy, who had listen to our conversation, suddenly put his hand on my forehead. It was cold. Haa, this is nice… He removed it to fast to my linking while screaming. His reaction brought stares from students around.

"You're burning!" He exclamed while blowing on his hand, like it was on fire.

I shook my head, but as a result, it just spun even more around me. I leaned on the locker to support myself.

"You should go to the infirmary." Finally said Usopp.

I looked his way, exasperated.

"I'm telling you, I'm fine!" I insisted. "Anyway, there's just one class left for the day, I will survive!"

The two of them stared intensely at me. I raised my eyes to the ceiling.

"Alright, Alright! I'll go…" I finally complied.

The bell rang as I said that. Usopp offered me an encouraging smile, Luffy a smack on my back, before they disappeared in the busy crowd that was students. I sighed, took my back with all my personal effects in, just in case I had to go home, and I closed the locker and the padlock. I slowly made my way towards the infirmary while trying not to get in anyone's way. I finally arrived at my destination and I timidly knocked on the door. A muffled _Come in_ came from the other side and I turned the handled so I could get in. I closed the door behind me and I turned around. Doctor Chopper sat on a chair, and Robin, a history teacher, was right next to him.

"What can I do for you today, miss Cerys?"

I nervously played with my fingers.

"I don't feel so well today…"

He got up and invited me to sit down. Once done, he put the back of his hand on my forehead, and decided it was necessary to take my temperature. He pulled out a thermometer, carefully disinfected it and asked me to open my mouth, which I did.

While he waited for the results, I observed more closely our school's doctor. He had short brown hair and big round grey eyes. He was quite cute, if I may say so myself. At only 16 year old, he already had his degree and was a qualified doctor. He graduated high school at only 11 year old and obtained his doctor degree in less than 3 years. A real genius. I heard that his grand-mother was a grand doctor, world-renowned at that. He must have studied medicine from a very young age.

A _Bip_ rang out and the young man slowly took out the object from my mouth before checking its result. He put it down on the round table by his side and took a brown stick in his doctor material. He indicated me to open my mouth and to say _aaah_ the longest I could. I did as told and he gently set down the object on my tongue. Man, I can never get used to that taste.. He got it out seconds later and threw it in the trash can. I closed and opened my mouth. A wince made its way on my face. Gosh, I had a coated tongue now…

"It seems you cough the flu. Nothing serious, but you still need to rest. Take some cough syrup, acetaminophen caplets like it's written on the package, get some sleep and you'll be able to come back to school next week, all fresh and prepared. You can go home now."

I nodded and took my bag on the ground while getting up. Robin did the same.

"I'll take you home." She simply said.

I was about to protest, say that I could go home by myself, that rain stopped falling this morning anyway, but her stare shut me up. I said goodbye to doctor Chopper and followed the teacher. These two already knew about my "secret", so there was no need to worry about them finding out about it if they brought me home. The ride was made in a comfortable silence, and Robin dropped me at Law's house. I thanked her, which she answered with a smile. I climbed the stairs, unlocked the door and entered the apartment.

"I'm home!"

It was more than a reflex than anything. I knew nobody was here at the moment. Well, except for Bepo. As soon as he heard the front door open, he ran here and happily robbed his face against my legs. When I returned his gesture, he went back the way he came, satisfied. I pulled out my shoes, put my bag in the entrance and made my way to the bathroom. I searched for pills in the cabinet, took said the caplets and swallowed them in one go. I then took a glass of water. After drinking, I searched for the cough syrup, but didn't find any. I made a mental note to ask Law for it later. I got out and walked towards my bedroom to get some shut eyes. However, I stopped at Law's door. His door was ajar. Too curious, I sneaked inside. When was the last time Law was absent while I was home? I knew he would kill me if he heard about me sneaking around and looking through his things, but the need to know all the little secrets he was (probably) hidling was bigger than my survive instincts.

I began with his commode's drawers. I opened one and found his boxers. I considered it for a second, curious if I would found one with little hearts on it, but I closed quickly closed the drawer. I wouldn't find his shameful secrets by searching through his underwear!

…And I didn't want to sound like a complete pervert.

I changed my target and went to his wardrobe. Some shirts and ties were hanging. Boxes were neatly put on a shelf on the top corner. I tried to reach them, but with my small height, only 5'1, it was a lost cause. I sighed and got on my knees. There were some other boxes on the ground. I took the first one that made contact with my hand. I opened it.

Many baubles were inside. A particularly ugly DIY, a pair of broken scissors, a small blue pencil. I realised something.

The DIY was a gift I gave him when I was 8 year old and he turned 15. The scissors were the ones I believed I lost when I was 9 year old. That pencil was the one my sister lent to Law one day when we came to play at his house. He kept all of them?

The more I searched, the more I discovered items from my childhood, some I had totally forgotten about. Then, in the bottom, there were many pictures. I took and analysed them. One where I was crying and covered in mud, thanks to Law, another one where Law and I were scratched all over, because we fell from our bike onto the gravel, one where we went camping, and I was forcing down a piece of bread down Law's throat since he made a particularly unpleasant joke to me. Then, came the last picture. It was at his old house, when he was leaving for school in another city. Law was on my right, his arm around my shoulders, and he was roughly rubbing my scalp with his joints. Leïla was on my left and put her hand over my head to give me rabbit's ears. And myself, in the middle, trying to get out Law's grip, tears to my eyes. From pain? Or sadness? I didn't know.

I gently put down the pictures on the bottom of the box, the other items on top, and I closed the lid so I could put back the object right where I found it. Who would believe that Trafalgar Law was a sentimental…

I took the box next to it and opened it. This time, no pictures. Just some articles. It talked about economy, accidents, murders. The subjects were vast, but one name seemed to pop up every time. _Doflamingo_. An article in particular caught my attention. On the top of it, there was a picture of a couple around 30 year old. They were Law's parents. He told me about them once and showed me their picture a long time ago, but I could still remember their faces. His parents died in a car accident. So then why was this article talking about money debt that turned sour?

I didn't have the time to discover more because I heard the front door open.


	8. The Sick Girl

**Hi there! So sorry for the late update! A lot happened in my life the last few weeks, and I had to move on my own for the very first time (yeah for independance!), so I didn't had a lot of time to write. But I'm back, with more free time before school starts again. So I promise, another chapter will be out next week! By then, enjoy this one!**

* * *

 **The Sick Girl**

Panicked, I quickly put back the articles in the box, closed it and shoved it inside. I hastily got up and closed the closet's door. At the same time, the room's door opened. Law got in, put his jacket on his bed and started to take off his tie. Then he saw me. He immediately froze.

I took a step forward so I could explain to him why I was here. I had to find an excuse, anything! However, it was my time to freeze. I don't know if it was because of the fact I got up too suddenly, but my head started to spin. I put my hand on my forehead to try and calm the whirlwind that took place in me, but it just got worse. I felt like I was on a waterbed. The ground seemed to move on its own. I felt my muscles relaxing at the point where I could not stand on my own and my eyes closed on their own accords. My body fell forward.

I felt strong arms catching me just before I passed out.

xXxXxXxXxXx

 _Peacefully lying on the ground, a young girl observed the pretty blue sky. Her long jet black hair created an halo around her face. She silently looked at the cloud floating by, her deep green eyes mesmerised by the funny shapes she discovered. Suddenly, some birds flew above her in the sky. With there magnificent multi-coloured wings, they slowly crossed the clouds, creating a perfect V. The 10-year-old girl raised her hands above her left eye, framed the birds with her thumbs and index fingers, closed her other eye and quietly murmured._ Click _. There, this moment was forever engraved in her memories. She slowly laughed._

" _Cerys, honey, are you coming?" Scream a voice from the house near her, where the grass stopped. "It's time to open the gifts!"_

 _The girl Cerys sighed. The gifts' time meant she had to go back inside the house. Which meant she had to see that energumen, that little jerk, that dam kid, the devil in person! She grunted while getting up and painfully made her way towards the house. Her mother was waiting for her. She climbed the stares while mumbling and the pale green eye woman, the same as her sister, caressed her hair to comfort her. The two of them entered the house and immediately, laughter and voices could be heard from across the corridor. They walked over to the room and got inside the kitchen. Many persons were already present. The father of the little girl stood in the corner of the room, a camera in his hands, ready to immortalize every moment. A couple brought gifts and put them on the kitchen table. The house's owners. Her sister was shyly talking to a boy, red cheeks and a cheesy smile on her face. Bwah! Cerys winced at the sight. Other boys were running across the house while laughing. And finally, the main reason this whole party was taking place: the birthday boy. He saw the young girl enter the room, and he couldn't help the grin slowly making its way on his lips. She returned his gesture with a dark stare before running over to her father. Stars in her eyes, she stared at the object in his hands._

" _Daddy, can I take pictures?" She asked, her voice full of hope._

 _The man looked down to see his little girl and he smiled._

" _Later, babydoll." He softly said. "First, go give your present to Law."_

 _Cerys stuck out her tongue upon hearing his reply. He took this opportunity by taking a picture. She pretended to sulk, and protested when her father ruffled her hair. She fixed her ebony locks and walked over to the table where the teenagers were present. She climbed on a chair so she could be at everyone's level. Poor little girl, she was slightly shorter than the average height, making her the smallest person among her classmates. A certain devil actually took pleasure in that fact, and had fun bringing out the subject every time he could. She stayed quiet while the others (minus the future teacher) happily talked about the gifts; what they thought that or that person had bought, if the birthday boy would love his presents. Every single gifts were put on the center of the table and the room slowly stared to calm down. Law had to choice which one he wanted to open first, without knowing who had brought it. Completely by chance, he took the first one he could reach. An half-moon shaped gift awkwardly packed. Cerys stopped breathing. It was hers. Will he love it? Or on the contrary, hate it? The young girl slightly shook her head. Why was she bothered by those questions? It wasn't like she wanted to please him! He could throw it in the garbage, for all she cared! She wouldn't be phased by it one bit!_

… _Right?_

 _Law carefully unwrapped the packaging and discovered his present: a white hat with black spots all over, made from a hairy and soft fabric. He stared at the object before looking up and analysing every face to find the giver. The heart of Cerys skipped a beat when his grey eyes crossed hers. She knew at that moment that he knew. Suddenly, a boy on his right, the same who gave sweet eyes to her sister five minutes ago, started laughing._

" _What is with that ugly hat?" He mocked._

 _Cerys felt her heart tighting up._

" _Who could have bought this horrible thing? Isn't it a little hot to wear a hat like that one?"_

 _The young girl looked down in shame and tried to suppress the tears that threaten to fall on her pink cheeks. She thought the hat was pretty. Leïla, her older sister, saw red upon hearing the arrogant words the teenager was saying about her little sister. The same mouth that made her blush earlier, now she wanted it to shut up. She just wanted to make his brain boil. She opened her mouth to defended the young girl and say her point of view, but stayed silent when she saw Law take the ripped pieces of the packaging. Since Cerys had her eyes stucked to her small trembling hands, she thought he was taking out the trash (hat included). He then made his way to the recycling bin, opened the cover and threw away the garbage. Cerys' throat tighten and she forced herself to look up. She was surprised to discover the hat still on the table. Law silently made his way back to his place. His stare threw daggers at the young man and he hardly gulped upon the force of his stare. Law was the only one that could tease the little girl. No one else. He gently took the hat in his hands and put it on his head. He then looked over at Cerys, who was staring at him, mouth wide open, and offered her a smile. Not one of his sarcastic or evil smirk. No. A genuine smile._

xXxXxXxXxXx

I hardly opened my eyes and was surprised to see the darkness I was in. I looked around myself to find out where I was. Confused, I discovered I was in my own room. I tried to move my body, but it wasn't responding correctly; I had difficulty just moving my fingers by an inch. Slowly, my memories came back to me. I cam back home since I was sick, I dug through Law's dirty secrets and he came home at that time. He caught me and… I completely blacked out, I think. Maybe because of the fever?

So if I was in my room, it meant Law carried me in here? I winced. Since it was so dark, it meant I was out for a couple of hours. At least four, I was home at 3PM, and Law came back at 4. I sighed.

Slowly, my dream came back to me. Why did my subconscious made me relive an old memory from six years ago? Because I saw those old pictures? I reflected on my dream/memory. Why did Law, back then, defended me? I mean, he didn't say anything out loud to his friend about his nasty remark, but he still made him shut up by "accepting" my gift. And now that I was thinking about it, he stopped being friends with that guy afterwards. I even think that several days later, the guy in question went home crying because of Law and my sister. A special collaboration, since those two never did cooperate to play a dirty trick on someone.

Breaking my current thoughts, the light was suddenly turned on. I blinked a couple of times so my eyes would get use to the now bright environment. I saw Law gently coming my way. The contrasts of the light created halos above his head. I mentally shook my head. It would be more appropriate if devil's horns were visible instead.

"Finally awaken, you stalker?" He said, a sarcastic smile on his lips.

I did say a thing while he put a bowl full of water and a towel on the furniture next to my bed. He abruptly stripped me of my blankets so only one would remain. I grunted of discontent.

"What are you doing?" I asked, my voice hoarse.

My throat was dry. My flu finally (unfortunately) began to kick in.

"You fever has to go down." He simply said.

Was that why he stripped me of my blankets? So I could freeze like a lizard in Antarctica?

He ignored my stare full of thunderbolts and took his towel to soak it in the water. He then delicately put it on my forehead. I frowned. Why was he so caring all of a sudden? He was gonna make me pay later? Or he felt guilty (you know, because he got me wet to the bones the other day?). That thought melt like snow on a hot summer day. Trafalgar Law, felling guilty? Naaaah.

"Now that you are awake, you mind answering some of my questions?" He said, playing the bad cop.

I sighed. I would have say a bad psychopath, but…

"First, what were you doing home since you were supposed to be at school?"

Was he stupid or?

"I am sick, remember?" I said as if he was completely out of it.

His temple jumped at my answer, but other than that, he did react. He continued.

"What were you doing in my room?"

There we are. Should I tell him the truth, or not? If I lied, it was pretty risky since I sucked at lying, me being the worst liar on earth and all. Worst than Luffy, if it talked to someone. I felt guilty each time I lied, and it was showing on my face that I was not telling the truth. By lying to him, I was only wasting my time and saliva. I would just spill it out in the end.

"I was curious, okay?" I finally said, his stare intense on me. You never let me in you room, so…

He stayed quiet for some seconds while analysing my words, and concluded I was telling the truth. Then, his eyes got dark and a shiver ran down my spine. Next to his 6'3, I had the impression he was a giant, and me, a little mouse. The fact that I was lying down didn't help my cause. And even if I was up, I had difficulty reaching his shoulder..

"What did you see in there?" He asked, his voice low and dangerous.

He stared at me. His eyes searched my soul. I avoided his gaze, disturbed. I had the unpleasant feeling of being naked in front of him.

"A box full of trinket and old pictures."

…It was the truth, even if it wasn't complete. I don't know why, but my guts were telling me not to tell him about the other box. I was sure that if I questioned him about it, his lips would be sealed.

..Yes, I know, it was a lie through omission! But he didn't know that..

He seemed satisfied by my answer and I saw his muscles relaxing. It was my turn to ask a question.

"Why do you keep that box?" I said, curious.

He sighed.

"Nostalgia, I guess."

..That's it? It was the only reason? Maybe I was thinking too much. Maybe it was just a reminder of the past.

"Get some rest." He suddenly said.

He turned tail and closed the light as he slowly got out of the room. Quickly, exhaustion came back and took over. I fell into oblivion with a thought in mind.

Trafalgar Law, what are you hiding?

xXxXxXxXxXx

"Law, I'm cold. Bring me a blanket!"

"Law, I'm thirsty. Bring me water!"

"Law, it's medication time!"

"Law!"

For the tenth time, Law entered my room and gave me the item I requested. I thanked him and smile, just to get on his nerves. However, like each time, he kept his calm and got out. I gave him orders since this morning, and not even once did he get mad. Yet, I knew he hated being pushed over, but not once did his voice got louder, he didn't complain a single time. The power of the sick. And I was guilty of abusing a little bit that power. Alright, maybe a lot. It was not every day I could enjoy Law's exclusive services! I found the situation quite comical. I could enjoy it even more if my body didn't feel like I had been rolled over by a 10 ton truck. Many times in a rough. I produced enough snot for a pool, I coughed like there was no tomorrow, and my cheeks were burning my hands. At least, my fever went down. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing.

Slowly, I got out of my bed, keeping my big fluffy blanket with me. I sniffed loudly while going over to my door. Gently, I opened it and looked in the hallway. Noises could be heard from the living room. Law was watching TV. Perfect. I silently closed the door behind me, cough at the same time, and went over my desk where my laptop was. I sat on the chair, kept the tissue box close, and pushed the start button. I waited patiently for it to turn on. Once it was done, I put on my password so I could access my session. I opened a web page, where it directly sent me to Google. I typed on the search bar. _D.O.F.L.A.M.I.N.G.O._ I pushed the _Enter_ button. Immediately, images of bright pink flamingo popped up. That was NOT what I was searching for! I scrolled down and clicked on an article that wasn't about birds. It took me to a journal web page with an article that was published just a few days ago. It talked about the _Donquixote_ _Family,_ a multifunction company. Medicine, banks, recreative activities, name it. Again, a name kept on coming back, this time, with a last name. Donquixote Doflamingo. I returned to the last page, added the last name on the searching bar, and refreshed the page. This time, images of a 40ish-year-old man was visible. I frowned upon seeing his face. I could swear I knew him from somewhere, but where?

At that moment, the phone decided to ring. I jumped at the sound and hurt my knee under the desk. I swore quietly because of the pain. It rang two times before Law finally unhook the phone. I continued my search. I clicked on the first article and discovered the biography of the character.

He created his business when he was around 20 and since then, it didn't stop growing. Blah blah blah… It talked about economy, different sides of society, but nothing caught my attention. And there was not a single detail about his personal life. It only said he had no partner, nor children. I sighed and came back to my searching web page. What was his connexion with Law? I did not get it at all.. I stared at the picture and tried to make some sense out of all this, and in my thoughts too. Then, I had a vision. Those strange glasses… I saw them somewhere! It was the weird man I encountered the other day, the one I ran into!

When I finally made a plausible connexion, I heard footsteps from the hallway, coming directly towards my room. I hurriedly closed the page, just in time as I saw Law open the door, phone in his hand. He was surprised to see I wasn't in bed, but didn't make any commentary. He simply gave me the phone and got out. I put it on my ear.

"Hello?"

"Hey, little sister! Law told me you are sick?"

 _Leïla_.

"Yeah." I said, and like I was trying to prove it to her, a coughing fit abruptly began.

When I took a deep breath, Leïla spoke again.

"Tough to be sick!" She sympathised. "But I'm sure that you'll get well soon, with Law as a doctor and all…"

I sighed upon hearing her teasing tone.

"Leïla…"

She laughed.

"I'm kidding! Actually, I didn't call for that."

I waited for her to continue.

"Like you know, Law's birthday is just a week away."

Since I did not acknowledge her, she continued.

"And since my husband's birthday is just a day ahead, I was thinking we could celebrate the two of them at the same time! So, what do you say?"


	9. Searching

**Searching, Chapter Nine**

For the sixth time today, I sighed. I didn't notice how hard it was to find a birthday gift for someone I knew so little! I had no idea what to give my brother-in-law. The past few years, it was my parents who bought every single present we ever gave him, I just had to pay my part. I could inspire myself with those gifts, but now that I think about it, every item they ever gave him were just practical in the kitchen, like an expresso machine, or a food processor, things like that. And because I thought those things were too.. bland, I dropped out the idea of getting inspiration from them. However, because of it, I was back at the starting line.

I sighed for the seventh time and a huge gust of icy wind blew me over, making me shiver. I put my hands on my forearms and robbed to create some friction. Fall was officially here, which meant the days were colder and shorter. How I wish we could change into our winter uniform already… Still two days before October, and I could say hello to the big ass sleeves on the jacket that was part of our uniform. I should have brought a jacket with me this morning, but I was in a hurry to finally go outside and taste some fresh air. I spent the entire weekend locked up inside at Law's place because of my cold. Actually, it was still present, but it was less violent than before. I still had the impression my nose produced enough snot to fill out a pool, but at least my fever disappeared, my coughing wasn't as bad and my throat didn't hurt no more.

Without noticing, I stopped at a fruit and vegetable stall. I absentmindedly looked over the products until my eyes caught sight of a fruit in particular. My lips slowly started to form a smile. What if I bought him that? Just imagining his reaction, I was already laughing. I quickly got rid of my idea. It wasn't a gift, and even for a joke, my brother-in-law could, and would, kill me. Also, it was mean.

Suddenly, an enormous rumble echoed next to me. I abandoned my staring contest with the pineapple and looked at the source of the sound. A young man watched the stall in front of him, a hand on his stomach, droll coming from his mouth. I smiled.

"Yo, Luffy."

Startled, the dark head sharply turned his head and showed a big smile when he saw who spoke to him.

"You came to buy something to eat after school?"

He shook his head and scratched his neck while laughing.

"Big brother will kill me if he catches wind of me eating between meals. He wants to reduce the quantity of food I eat, he says I'm expensive."

It was my turn to laugh. I had no difficulty picturing his big brother lecturing him because he eats too much. I always found amazing the quantity of food my friend could swallow in a day. And I had difficulty comprehending how he wasn't fat already.

Luffy gave one last sad look to the stall before moving away so his control wouldn't break. I followed him. Maybe he could help me find an idea for the gift I had to give Marco!

"Say, Luffy?"

He looked my way, sign he was listening.

"Do you know what Marco likes?" I asked him.

He raised an eyebrow.

"What he likes? Why asking?"

"I want to find him a gift for his birthday."

I saw in Luffy's eyes he finally understood what I was talking about.

"Oh yeah! That's right, your sister is holding a birthday party next Sunday."

I froze. He knew about that. But how.. Oh, right, his brother is a good friend of the couple, so of course he would be invited. And since I know my sister so well, she must have invited Luffy as well. I started to panic. Did he know Law was going to be there also? Worse, did he himself was going to come at my sister's house?

"Did my sister invited you?" I asked with a neutral tone on the outside, but if you listen well, you could hear the panic in my voice.

The sad look on Luffy's face came back, the same he had earlier.

"Yeah, but I already have plans that day, I can't come.." He whined, disappointed (to miss all the little delights my sister would make, probably). "You see, there's a hamburger eating contest the same day, so.."

I nodded, showing a sorry smile. Inside? I was gloating. However, a problem remained. His brother. I just had to convince him not to talk to anyone about my strange relationship with my biology teacher.

"So, any ideas?" I reminded him.

He stopped to think it over. He tried really hard! And…

"I don't know, sorry."

Didn't find anything. My shoulder dropped. Back to point A. I stopped talking, depressed, and I scanned around myself. My eyes caught a certain shop. Hmm, I could go with that…

xXxXxXxXxXx

"You see, in this example, cell division is…"

My heavy head slipped from the palm of my hand, which awoke me a little. I had time to stop my fall and not break my chin on the desk. The monotone voice of Law made me sleepy. Why can't time move faster in these situations? My eyes, half closed, lazily looked at the clock on the wall. Still fifteen minutes of torture to endure. I let my head fall and buried my face in my forearms. Why did the school choose to give me this biology class as an extra class when it was at the very bottom of my list of class choices?! I was just terrible at the subject! Furthermore, I had to go through his unbearable lectures for an hour and half once or twice a week… Pure torture.

"Miss Cerys…" I heard a sweet voice whisper in my ear, a hot breath on my skin.

I immediately raised my head and a trail of drool followed my gesture. I heard laughs all around me from my classmates. Clumsy, I dried myself, my cheeks red, and I turned my head towards the cause of my brutal wake. Law looked down at me, a smirk on his lips that would make the Cheshire cat proud.

"You will stay after class." He simply said before returning to the board.

I could fell jealous stares on my back, but I ignored them completely. Did Law know? Maybe he guessed what my intentions were after school, but how would he know? It made no sense!

During the last few minutes of the class, I absentmindedly tapped my pen on my desk, nervous. I think it was pissing off my neighbour, but I was too much deep in my own mind to really notice.

Too quickly, the bell rang, announcing my (potential) death. Law was going to murder me. Mom, Dad, Leïla, I love you all…

With slow footsteps, to slow down as much as possible my fate, I walked towards Law, who was erasing the board. I now knew what a pirate felt walking towards the gallows. And believe me, it was terrifying, even more when the hangman was Law.

I finally (unfortunately) arrived at my destination. He turned around slowly towards me and took a deep breath before speaking. I held my breath.

"Cerys, we need to talk."

I closed my eyes.

There. I'm dead.

"It's about your grades."

I opened one eye, then the other, to verify he wasn't kidding me. And indeed, he was totally serious.

…That's it? He just wanted to talk about my school grades? I sighed of relief.

Law took a sheet from his desk and showed it to me. It was the result of my very first biology test. My eyes dropped on the note on the top corner. 34%. Ouch, it was… Really bad.

I looked up and saw Law was staring, waiting for an answer. I shrugged.

"What do you want me to say? I was never really good at science…"

He put down the sheet and shook his head with a disappointed air. What? We could not all be geniuses like him!

"You know what this means?"

…Will he punish me? With a whip and.. No. _No_. Cerys, get this image out of your brain right now.

"You will have to take an intense study session."

"What?"

No way! He was going to take immense pleasure in showing me every single mistake I made! But did I really have a choice in the matter? No. Not with Law as my teacher. I sighed, defeated. Please God, help me..

Without saying a word, I went over my desk, put away my material in my bag and got out. I walked across the hallway like a zombie, and I suddenly remembered my earlier plan. I rapidly made my way towards the library. I entered and borrowed a computer. Once sat in front of it, I started up the electronic. I continued my researches here since I realised how risky it was for me to do them at home. Law could catch me at any given moment. More than once he almost found out about my little secret. Here, at least I had a better chance at founding what I was searching for without being caught by him.

I opened a web page and continued where I left off last time. I tried to find additional information about this Doflamingo, even just gossip, but no, I found nothing, just the same subjects from last time. Each time, it talked about his company. Nothing more, nothing less. I sighed, frustrated, and I robbed my eyes. Will I find a connexion between my teacher and this rich person one day?

Suddenly, I saw a head appear on my left, just above my shoulder. History teacher Robin looked at the screen. She almost gave me a heart attack.

"A research on Doflamingo? There's an interesting subject."

She moved to my right and smiled. I turned my chair to properly look at her.

"You know him?" I asked, curious.

Her mysterious smile stayed on her lips.

"Maybe."

I watched her with my hungry eyes, drinking her words. She loved to keep some suspense, and I hated that. She finally continued with a playful smirk.

"Some days ago, the president of the _Donquixote Family_ company in person came to give an offer to the headmaster Shanks. His society wants to expend its activity with private schools, and so he is interested in ours. He wanted to buy the establishment from the headmaster, who's also the owner, but he refused because of some.. nasty rumors about the character."

She marked a dramatic pause. I wanted to bang my head against my keyboard since the waiting was unbearable. _Just continue!_ I wanted to scream. Of course, I shut up, and waited not so patiently on my seat. After torturing me for a couple of seconds (which felt like minutes), she continued her story.

"Maybe those are just lies, but I heard that his company specialised in certain sphere really out of the ordinary."

I waited for her to finish, but she just stayed quiet. I was uncontrollable on my chair. Each of my movements made a funny, almost angry, sound.

"Like what?" I asked, hungry for the answer.

She smirked again, A smirk that gave me shivers.

"Drug, sex, intimidation, murder."

My head spun. This new information was more than astounding.

"Of course, these are just rumors."

She smiled once more before walking out the exit. I followed her with my gaze, confused. Why did I have the impression her last words were more along the lines of "All of this is true"? But it was crazy! Drug? Sex? MURDER?! What, he had assassins at his disposal? A shiver got to me upon thinking that.

What if Law had a connexion to all this? Maybe he was one of the dealers, or an assassin… I violently shook my head to get this image out of my brain. Law was cruel, but at that level? No.

A little bit unsettled, I closed the computer and got out of the library in a hurry. I almost ran over the school to get out. It was time I changed my mind with an intense photography session.

xXxXxXxXxXx

"You're late."

I looked up from my shoes to stare at Law.

"Late? Since when do I have a curfew?"

He seemed exasperated.

"Since you have bad grades in my class."

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Almost.

"Hurry up and find me in the kitchen."

I undid my laces, took off my shoes and joined him. I put down my bag next to the front door.

"What about diner?" I tried to distract him.

He sat down on his chair. A hundred biology exercises were put down on the table.

"I took care of it."

My eyes doubled size, horrified. He wants to kill me, no doubt about it! He glared at me and upon seeing my reaction, sighed, pissed off.

"I ordered a pizza. Now, sit down."

I accepted my fate. I could not escape these revisions from hell. I didn't find any getaway gate. Let's just let him torture me without resistance, it'll be less painful this way.

xXxXxXxXxXx

 _Unknown from the teacher and its student, a man observed the light coming out of the small apartment on the fourth floor. He saw his old "student" pass by the living room's window. A smile appeared on his lips. He thought he could escape him. How naive of him. Then, a young girl also appeared in the light. His smile increased in size. The only weakness of the teacher. He knew he would have fun with those two. The big man turned tails, his pink coat floating in the wind, and he disappeared in the darkness of the night._


	10. The Party

**The Party, Chapter Ten**

I slowly took off my shirt, my head in the clouds. One week flew by at full speed and we already were Sunday, October 5. Marco's birthday.

I absentmindedly took off my work uniform and took my black jeans with my blue striped shirt. I took off my work shoes to replace them with my small army boots. I leaned down and opened my bag. Camera? Check. Gifts? Check. I then put my uniform in my bag, got up and put it on my shoulder. I closed the locker, smiled at my reflection and exited the workers' cloakroom. I crossed path with Sanji in the hallway.

"Shift's over?"

I nodded.

"I asked old man Zeff to let me leave earlier, my sister's throwing a birthday party for her husband. And I'm already late, so…"

He smiled.

"I see. Good night then."

"Thanks. You too!"

On that note, I continued my walk towards the restaurant's exit. I opened the door and walked in the little back alley. I deeply smelled the night air before exiting the place. I got out my camera and looked at the world through my lens, immortalizing the city once in a while.

It only took me a dozen of minutes to arrive at my sister's house, and who could better greet me than one of the birthday boy himself. Law peacefully smoked on the balcony.

"You are ruining your health with this muck, you know that?" I said, once at his height.

He raised his eyes to the orange sky.

"I'm glad to see you, too." He mocked me.

I ignored what he said and raised my camera to my eye as he brought back his cigarette to his lips, so he could inhale its toxic smoke. _Click_. He breathed out in my face.

"What are you doing?" He asked me, half intrigued, half amused.

I coughed and violently shook my right hand in front of my face to disperse the smoke before answering him.

"Leïla asked me to take pictures of the night with my super talent. Say cheese!"

I took another cliché and quickly ran away inside before my precious camera gets itself destroy in a thousand pieces on the floor.

I crossed the hallway, wrapped in a deafening hubbub. The house was full of people and I had to push them aside so I could navigate in the busy crowd. I did not recognise most of the heads I was seeing.

Finally, I arrived at the living room, and I saw the other birthday boy of the night, who had his back turned to me. At last, a familiar head. I got closer to my brother-in-law and gently tapped his shoulder. He turned around and when he recognised me, he happily enclosed me in his big arms. I had trouble just breathing because he was crushing me hard. He finally let me go.

"Happy birthday!" I wished him, smiling.

He returned my smile. Only then did I notice he wasn't alone when I approached him. There was a man with him, really, reeeaally… tall. I had to twist my neck just so I could see his eyes. I had the impression of being a dwarf next to him..

"This is Edward Newgate, also known as Whitebeard. He's my boss."

I smiled at him politely, intimidated.

"Pleasure to meet you, mister Newgate."

He fixed me for a while, examining me, and suddenly, he bursted out laughing.

"Poor little, I frighten her!"

He gave me a slap on the back. I'm sure if it was not thanks to my long hours of training with Garp- _sensei_ , which helped me harden, I would have fallen down because of the strength behind his force. Poor little back..

After exchanging some words of greeting, I slipped away from the two men who were talking about their job. Me and mechanic…

I came back in the hallway, got out of the way just in time so my niece and nephew wouldn't tackle me in the legs, and I entered the kitchen. I saw yet another familiar head.

"Cerys!"

My sister threw herself at me and crushed me just like her husband. He must have taken example from her.

"I'm so glad you could come!"

I smiled at her. She crossed her arm with mine and took me across her little house to present to me her guests. Each time she showed me a new person, I raised my camera and took a picture. It made some of them laugh. That way, she introduced me to a whole bunch of people. Thatch, who worked with Marco, and who had a strange hair style on his head. It made me think of a.. Banana? With Marco and his pineapple, and this Thatch and his banana, they were a perfect combo.. Was there a special announcement in the job description, like "have a fruit hair style"? Okay, maybe not… So, she introduced me to Thatch. Next to him was a big and strong man, once again with a particular hair style (was it a specialty of the garage?), Jozu. Further away was a beautiful man with long hair, Izo. Before he opened his mouth, I was sure he was a woman. Oups! Anyway, how could anyone blame me? His hair was far more prettier than mine, so.. There was so much people I had trouble memorizing every single name. But there was one in particular I didn't like one bit. Usually, I waited to know the person a little bit more before having an opinion on them, but this guy.. Marshall D. Teach. The aura he had around him did not please me. And the way he was looking at my sister.. Like he was going to eat her alive.. The moment I noticed his behavior, I got away from him, not before giving him a threatening stare. Once out of his sight, I let out a long sigh. And my stomach manifested itself. Even with the cacophony around us, Leïla heard it. She started to laugh.

"If you're hungry, there's some cakes in the kitchen."

Someone called her over, so she slipped away. I was alone, again. My stomach cried out once more. I tapped it, just like I wanted to tell it to calm down, and I returned to the kitchen. On the counter, next to the refrigerator, were three desserts. A shortcake with a mountain of strawberries, a tiramisu, which smelled chocolatey divine, and a big ass cheese cake. Just by looking at them, my mouth produced a river of drool. Decision, decision.. Alright, no compromise, I'll take all three!

I got closer to those delights, put down my camera far away so it wouldn't get dirty, and cut myself a huge portion of each. I put them in a small saucer, took a spoon, cut the tiramisu and brought it to my lips. When the dessert touched my tongue, I closed my eyes, an explosion of flavours in my mouth. I could not fix who I preferred as a cook between my sister and Sanji. I suddenly heard a laugh to my right.

"Well, it seems good I see!" I heard a sniggering masculine voice.

I hastily opened my eyes and saw Luffy's brother who looked at me while smiling. I was about to open my mouth, but remembered it was full of food. I quickly swallowed and fixed my boots, red from embarrassment. He must take me for an hungry pig now…

I dared to look up and saw his never leaving smile. I blushed even more, my body on fire. My God he was beautiful, with his small freckles and his brown bed hair…

"So, I heard Luffy's biology teacher is also your childhood friend, to you and Leïla?" He innocently asked.

And there, he bursted my bubble. Why did each time that damn guy was not here, we always had to talk about him? I sighed a few seconds.

"Yeah."

 _Unfortunately_.

"About that, if you can keep it a secret…"

He threw me an intrigued look, but all the same nodded. I smiled at him, grateful. And just when I was about to change the subject and talk about something more joyful with the brunet…

"Hey, if it isn't small Cerys!"

Shachi threw himself at me, Penguin right by his side. The last one strongly examined my saucer that I still had in my hands before stealing a strawberry.

"Hey!"

He quickly ran away so he would not suffer from my wrath. I silently grumbled. I then noticed Ace had disappeared. I sadly sighed. Well, too bad…

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked without any conviction.

Shachi nervously rubbed his neck.

"Uh.. We invited ourselves?"

Translation: they surely heard about the birthday party from Law and they decided to get here without a proper invitation.

"Weren't you supposed to go back to your city this weekend?"

He shrugged and picked on my plate.

"Wha-! Will you leave my strawberries alone?!"

He smirked at me, his mouth full of pink pieces. I winced upon seeing that. It was his turn to sweep away. I told myself I could finally have some time alone to eat in peace, but of course..

"Cerys, do you mind searching for Law?"

I pouted, but nodded all the same. I put down my saucer on the counter, took my camera and exited the room while grunting. I supposed he was outside, so I walked through the front door and closed it behind me. Law was in fact sat down on the stairs, his cellphone in his hands. I took advantage of the fact he hadn't noticed my presence yet to stealthily get closer. I watched over his shoulder and saw he received a text message. "You.. Can't.. Hide.. Forever..". Who could have send such a message?

I didn't have a chance to learn more since he saw my shadow on the ground and he abruptly turned around. His shoulder knocked against my gum, producing a curt _Toc_. I grunted in pain.

"Ouch! Be careful!"

He stared at me, visibly mad.

"What do you want?" He sharply said.

I answered on the same tone.

"Leïla wants you inside."

I turned tail and got back inside.

What an idiot! I kindly came to talk to him, and he answered me nastily, and he even hit me! I muttered insults all the way to the kitchen and once inside, I saw guests came together and were ready to give their presents to Marco. My camera in my hands, I prepared myself for the photography marathon, temporarily forgetting a certain imbecile.

Marco opened his gifts, some strange (throat pills?), some normal (clothes), and after a while, everyone gave him a little something. It was at that instant that I realised I still hadn't give him mine. I took off the bag I had on my back (that didn't leave me all night), put it on the ground, opened it and searched inside. I pulled out a box warped in blue and green paper. I smiled and got close to the blond. I gave it to him. He slowly unwrapped it and finally opened the top of the box. His eyes got big, his mouth fell. _Click_. I took a picture while laughing. I think I will frame this one.

"Cerys…"

I innocently smiled at him.

"Yes, my dear and lovely brother-in-law?"

He took out the object from the box. A pretty pink shirt with a pineapple in the middle. The room bursted out laughing, Even Law, who finally decided to get inside, showed a smirk.

Slowly, Marco raised his black eyes, full of fury. Oh ho… I frenetically looked around my surroundings and my eyes caught sight of Ace not too far away. He will do! I rushed over to get to him, smiled while shoving my camera in his hands, and took off as fast as I could.

"Come back here, you devil!"

Marco's cry resonated in the house.

xXxXxXxXxXx

"Where did my sister and her husband found such a wonderful object?" I said, full of admiration.

Law put down his new living room decoration, a gorgeous _Nodachi_ that was as tall as me, next to the television. He slowly stroked it, like he was afraid it'll break, a smile on his lips. He always had a fascination towards big swords.

He finally turned around, took the black box on the couch, Shachi and Penguin's birthday gift, went over to the kitchen's side, and threw it in the garbage.

"What the hell are you doing?" I exclaimed.

I ran over to the garbage can, but he denied me access.

"Leave it where it belongs."

"But…"

He stared at me. I withdrew, but still gave the box a curious look. What did the two friends gave to Law that he would so easily throw it away?

"You're the only one who can get rid of the gift he received on the exact same day…"

His expression suddenly changed. He seemed.. mocker.

"Talking about gifts.. I didn't know you had a sense of humour."

I laughed.

"Are you referring to the pineapple shirt for another pineapple?"

He nodded while smirking.

"It was only a joke, a false gift. Still, I just loved the look on his face when he opened it! Fortunately, he forgave me when I gave him his bottle of sake."

He shook his head, amused and exasperated. I smiled, triumphant. I was actually pretty proud of myself!

"Now that I think about it, you still did not give me your gift."

I immediately stopped smiling.

"I told you I forgot it at home!"

Lie. I had it in my bag the whole time. I just didn't find the right moment to give it to him when we were alone. I quickly turned my back to him, so he would not see I was lying, and ran to my room. I searched through my bag when I put it on my bed and pulled out an object beautifully warped in blood red. I paused. Did I really have to give it to him? I mean, maybe he will hate it. Or, he would make fun of it. Or he would say I'm just too sentimental. Or-. I shook my head. It's not like I give a damn!

I returned to the living room, where Law was. I timidly presented to him his gift. He took it, his fingers brushing against my hands. A current ran throught me. He nonchalantly unwrapped it. A photo album was now in his hands. I assembled every single picture I could found that related to him or us, even going as far as borrowing my sister's, making some photocopies, and I put together this album.

Law opened the album and gently turned the pages, his eyes travelling across the pictures. He finally closed it after a while and put it down on the table. Then, he started to strangely stare at me. What, I had something between my teeth?

Without a warning, he slowly approached me until he was in front of me, just a few centimeters away. He delicately put his fingers under my chin, so I would look up at the deep grey in his eyes. He softly leaned down, shut his eyes and grazed my lips against his. I froze.

After a couple of seconds, he pulled away, his warmth leaving me. His hand returned to his sides.

"Thanks."

He deviously smirked at me, got around me, and I heard his bedroom's door close.

I blinked my eyes once.

Twice.

I slowly put my fingers on my lips, which were still wet.

 _What the f-_

xXxXxXxXxXx

 _Bonus : What exactly was in Law's black box?_

A smile on his face, Law gently put down his new treasure in the trunk of his car. He already polished the blade so it would shine like a thousand lights. Just when he closed the trunk, he heard a cry in his back.

"Oi, Law!"

He turned around and saw his friend (he still wondered how this idiot had deserved this title) running towards him, a black box in his hands.

"What do you want, Shachi?" He harshly asked.

It was late, and he was tired. He just wanted to get in bed and sleep.

Without saying a word, the man presented to him the box, a smile illuminating his face. Suspicious, he took the box from his hands and opened it. Inside was a multitude of objects more.. unusual than the last one. A whip. Handcuffs. …Lubricant? _Whipped cream_? What the…

"Penguin and I thought that little Cerys and you would appreciate." Said Shachi with a wink, malicious.

Law saw red. What were they imagining, these little…

"What are you doing?" Said a feminine voice behind him.

Law hastily closed the box and answered with a dry tone.

"Nothing."

Shachi wanted to protest, but the murderous glare that the teacher was giving him was enough to shut him up. He decided instead to run with his life, which was wiser.

Cerys shrugged, not interested, and got around Law to get to the passenger side.

Law sighed, furious. Once he was home, he would put this garbage where it belonged, in the trash can!


	11. A Change of Opinion

**A Change of Opinion, Chapter Eleven**

 _My heart was on fire. Each of his touches, each of his caresses, gave me goosebumps. The tip of his fingers electrified my skin. My body shivered. He smirked. He gently put his fingers on my neck, grazing my flushed skin. He slowly descended, a sweet torture. He avoided my breasts, not really touching them, to get to my stomach. A small moan escaped from my lips. My cheeks became scarlet. Did I just moan?_

" _Someone's impatient, I see."_

 _The teasing voice of Law did not help my awkwardness._

" _Shut it.." I murmured, extremely embarrassed, almost shameful._

 _A devious smirk appeared on his lips. His stare intensified, savage. His eyes screamed at me, telling me they would eat me. My hands started to shake from anticipation. I put them behind his neck and forced his face to lean down. His lips claimed mine avidly. His teeth bit, his tongue played with mine. His fingers left no parcel of my body untouched. He finally got tired of my lips and traced a line of kisses along my neck. He bit down hard, hungry. A cry of pain escaped me. He licked my wound to soothe my pain. He then raised his head, dominant. Now, everyone will know I belonged to him. He then came back down at my level and his lips slightly opened. He started to… lick my cheek? What the…_

I opened my eyes, a nasty sensation covering my skin. Small black eyes were happily staring at me. Its rough tongue brushed my cheek.

"Bepo!"

Surprised by my mad cry, the little furry ball escaped through the door and disappeared from my vision. I sighed. Then, my brain analysed my dream. Why did I just dreamt of THAT?! And since when did I become so.. perverted? Was it because of Law's kiss?

…It really did happen, no? Why did he do that? To tease me? See my reaction? Or maybe he l-

 _No_. Impossible. Unthinkable. Unrealistic.

I violently shook my head to try to get these thoughts out before getting up and putting on my school uniform. I got out of my bedroom with a sigh.

As I was walking towards the kitchen, I saw Bepo timidly looking up, half hidden behind the bathroom door. He seemed to hesitate before coming to see me. I smiled at his behavior and crouched down to take him in my arms. As soon as he saw my hands held out to him, he ran over to me. I could almost see a smile on his small lips. I took him and pressed him against my chest. I scratched his ears. He started to loudly purr.

Once more, I made my way towards the kitchen and was surprised to realise that the eternal late waker was in fact up, peacefully sat in his chair, completely awake. As soon as my eyes caught sight of my teacher, my cheeks burned me and I looked away. I quickly walked to the refrigerator, put down Bepo, who protested, annoyed, and took the milk carton. Impulsive, I drank in one go the milk directly from the carton. The liquid's coldness raised to my brain and froze my forehead. Good, it would alter my train of thoughts. Once calm, I threw away the now empty carton in the recycling bin and came back to the refrigerator. I made myself a fruit salad, a small bowl of yogurt on the side and sat in front of Law.

While I was silently eating my breakfast, I noticed my neighbour didn't just drink his coffee, but was looking as well through something. His gift, more precisely.

"What are you doing?" I couldn't help myself from asking, my cheeks red from embarrassment.

He briefly gazed up before returning his attention to the album, turning a page.

"I'm looking at my photo album."

No really? I didn't notice!

"Why here?"

A teasing smirk appeared on his lips.

"Why, does it bother you?"

My answer left my mouth without my consent.

"Yes!"

He raised his gaze again, stared at my eyes, malicious, before returning once more his attention to his previous occupation. He was ignoring me, that…

I grunted silently and angrily ate the rest of my fruits. My teeth bit so violently in my food that it resonated in my brain. The silent dragged on for many minutes. The sound of the turning pages irritated me grandly.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" He finally said after a couple of minutes, to break the silence.

His stare stopped looking at the pictures to fix themselves at me instead, just as I was getting up to get my dirty dishes to the sink.

What the hell was he going on about? I hope he doesn't mean I forgot about yesterday, because if he does-!

 _Oh_.

After putting down the dishes, I crossed the hallway. I stopped at the front door and stayed like that, my back to the other room, refusing to let him see my face.

"Happy birthday…"

I deeply breathed.

"Idiot!"

I escaped to my room.

xXxXxXxXxXx

"Nami?"

"Hmm?"

Her mouth full, she looked at me with her big brown eyes. I sighed and put down my sandwich in front of me. The hubbub the students were making was quite loud, I had to speak louder.

"Can I ask you a question?"

She nodded and continued to chew on her lunch. I took a deep breath and then dived in.

"What does it mean when a guy kisses a girl he hates?"

She fixed me, unfazed, during a couple of seconds, so much I had to look away, uncomfortable. I had the impression she was scanning my soul. Then, she swallowed her food and offered a sneaky smile.

"Did someone kiss you?"

I strongly shook my head, and hoped my crimson cheeks were not visible.

"O-of course not!" I stuttered with difficulty. "It was just a question.."

She threw me a suspicious look, but finally breathed out a sigh.

"It depends, I guess. Your question is quite vague."

I discretely rolled my eyes. She was not helping me much…

"Let's just say that.. the two of them have known each other for more than a decade, and the guy is older than the girl?"

She took her water bottle and brought it to her lips.

"How much older?"

"5-6."

She took a mouthful and took quite some time to think about it.

"Maybe it's just sexual frustration and he wants more from the girl."

I froze and swallowed. It would explain my dream last night.. Also, as far as I can remember, I never saw Law with a girl. Maybe he's gay?

"Are you sure he really hates her?"

"Of course he hates m- HER!" I recovered in extremis.

Nami's suspicious look came back and she showed yet again that smile. Once more, I looked away.

Her comment came back to my mind. Did Law really hate me, or was it just from my side? I mean, each time he could, he found an excuse to torture me, or just plain piss me off. Was it reason enough to say that he hated me? Maybe he just found it funny. With Law, we never know… But on the other hand, if he hated me, why did he accept me in his house? Even if I did cook, clean, do the laundry.. In fact, maybe I was just his maid! Maybe he considered me his toy. He was going to play with me, and when he would have enough, he would just throw me aside.

…Why did that thought brought me sadness?

"And what does the girl think about all this?" The red-hair suddenly asked.

Her question surprised me, and made me think at the same time. What did I think about all this, about his lips on mine? About his face so close to mine? About his perfume. About…

Raah, stop thinking about that Cerys! I could already feel the heat on my skin. Spreading across my stomach. Why across my stomach?!

"Aah!"

I loudly let my head fall on the table. My forehead hit it hard, making it ache. _Toc_. Nami just stared as I did that, an amused smile on her lips. Traitor..

xXxXxXxXxXx

"Clean, clean, we have to make it shine."

Slowly, I cleaned plates, after plates, after glasses, after forks, after- Oh! A fork. I was so used of doing the dishes that it didn't even bother me anymore. I often sang during my activity, thus the strange song, I looked over the other side of the room, in the living room, to see Law comfortably sat on the couch, mocking me with his eyes. I quickly returned my attention to the hot water and the soap bubbles. To change my mind, I turned on the suspended radio just under the dishes cabinet. I let the music take over and sang softly, my hips moving with the rhythm of the song.

The conversation I had with Nami made me think on different levels.

First, my friend did not answer my question at all. On the contrary, I now had more because of her. Which brings my next point.

I realised that in the end, Law was not as hateful as I thought he was. Of course, I would not start to idolise him either, but I conceived that he can be.. bearable. He had a few good sides (even if they were small in numbers), and maybe I was wrong all along to hate him all these years as I did.

Now that I thought about it, I could remember past events that should have give me a hint about the false believes I had. Like seven years ago, on his birthday. He did not say it out loud, maybe he wasn't even aware of it, but he still defended me against that teenage boy that made fun of me.

Actually, a few days ago, when he asked me if I wanted a lift after work, maybe he really did not have any afterthoughts when he proposed it to me. And I must say that now, I was feeling kind of guilty…

Sighing, I wiped my hands and emptied the sink, now empty of any dirty dishes. I took a clean cloth and started to dry the wet dishes. I noticed a new song that started to play and sang with the singer.

"I… Hate… Everything about you! Why, do I love you?"

My cheeks turned crimson when my brain analysed the lyrics. Now that I recognise I did not hate him anymore, it did not mean I will start to love him!

I hastily took a plate and absentmindedly wiped it. I was right!

…No?

"Hey."

The sudden whisper of the man I was thinking about ripped out a shriek from my vocal cords. Surprised, I let go of the plate while screaming. Since he was scotched to my back, Law had the time to enclose his arms around my waist and catch the object before it shattered on the floor. He let out a relieved sigh. His breath ghosted on my ear. I shivered. This position was far from comfortable…

I waited many seconds for him to release me and give me back my personal space, but he stayed completely still. The rhythm of my heart sped up. Why did he stay there? Nami's words came back in my mind. "It's sexual frustration." Ah the pervert! If he thought I would let him do what he wanted, that little-. He let me go and put the dish in the cabinet. Hehe.. He.. Oups…

"Go get milk, we ran out of it."

…

Was it really a good idea to stop hating him?

xXxXxXxXxXx

I closed my arms around myself to try to get some warmth. It was so cold tonight.. With milk in my hands to bout.. I grunted silently and profaned varied insults towards a certain teacher, swearing it was the last time.

I sighed and observed my surroundings. The street was calm at this hour. Childs were in the comfort of their homes, surely warm in blankets, in front of the TV. A morbid silence reigned in the city. Only a few suspicious dudes and drunken people were still out at this hour. Actually, a guy from the first category stood a few meters away from me. I could see his right side and his gaze was fixed on the street, until he saw my shadow in his vision. He turned his head and showed a sadistic smirk. His dark eyeglasses were on his nose, even if the sun hid a long time ago, and his pink bright coat shined in the night. He slowly made his way towards me.


	12. Childhood Memories

**Childhood Memories, Chapter Eleven and Half**

 _Giants_. Everyone of them were giants. Anyway, that's the impression the little Cerys had, from the height of her five years old. She looked, curious and terrified, the two new figures who just appeared in front of her. Timidly hidden behind her mother's leg, she observed the two adults who came to open the door. Cerys' mother decided that her daughter and her would visit their new neighbours who just moved in next door, a couple of days before. Cerys would have preferred to stay home and play with her new coloured pencils her father bought her, but her mother insisted on her coming along. So there she was, still hanging off her mother's jeans, following the three adults inside.

While they happily gossiped about subjects far too complicated and uninteresting for a five-year-old little girl, the said dark-head scanned around, trying to entertain herself. Countless cardboard boxes still sealed populated different rooms in the house. Only the most important objects (dishes, silverware) or furniture were visible. Cerys quickly got bored of her observations. She looked up to listen to the adults' talking.

"So, do you have any children?" Asked her mother.

The woman with beautiful black hair shook her head.

"No, I'm afraid not. But my nephew lives with us since his parents' death."

At those words, Cerys' eyes illuminated. A nephew? Maybe she would have a new friend to play with! There was her sister, but during the week, she had school, so the little girl was quite bored at home.

"Law!" Screamed the man. "Come say hello to our new neighbours!"

His request was answered with silence.

"He must be in the backyard."

Cerys immediately started to change her weight to one foot to the other, restless. Her mother saw her and smile, knowing exactly what her daughter wanted. She delicately put her hand on her head and stroked her hair.

"If you want, Cerys can go and try to find him?"

To encourage her mother's word, the soon-to-be maniac of photography nodded, energic. The couple laughed upon seeing her reaction and gave their approval. The woman showed her the veranda door and Cerys did not lose a second. Impatient, she opened the door, hastily closed it behind her and bolted towards the stairs of the balcony. A small backyard surrounded by a fence with a big oak in the middle presented itself to the child. She avidly looked around herself and quickly noticed a crouched figure in the grass. She clumsily made her way towards him, suddenly nervous. Was this potential friend going to be nice? Playful? Funny? Cerys couldn't wait to find out the answer to that question.

Curious as to what he was doing, she silently approached him and stopped behind his turned back. She had to crouch forward to see over his shoulder. Her nose retracted and her lips showed a wince. He was cutting worms with a spoon. Bwah!

Seeing her shadow on the floor, Law slowly turned around and saw the young girl. His face stayed unfazed, but if we looked close enough, we could see surprise in his eyes. Who was that brat?

"Who are you?" He said, giving birth to his thoughts.

Acting on reflexes, Cerys backed away, scared by the coldness of the boy. She did not expect him to be so rude…

"C-Cerys…" She said with difficulty. "My home is next door…"

Law said nothing and got up. He was almost as twice as tall as the little girl. And he seemed to have double his age, too. _Another giant_.

He kept his dirty work in his hands, as well as the instrument of torture, and Cerys noticed them. Her repulsed face remained. She hated insects with all her heart! A nasty idea came across his brain.

-..-..-..-..-..-

"Mommyyyyyyyy!"

Cerys ran towards her mother, crying. Surprised, she only had time to prepare for the impact before her daughter hit her legs, her arms gripping for dear life.

Since the attention of the adults in the room were obviously on the little girl, Law took advantage of this fact to get in unnoticed, and climbed the stairs, his spoon hidden in the palm of his hand, so he could get rid of the evidence. He took great pleasure in throwing the leftovers of the spineless creature on the little girl, who immediately ran away while crying to go in the arms of her mother. Law smiled. He sensed he would have a lot of fun with that little.

xXxXxXxXxXx

"What if I get down.. No, She'll see me! Jump then? If I do that, I'm going to break my neck! Argh!"

The young seven-year-old girl took her hair in her hands and bit her lips to prevent herself from screaming. She could already hear her sister searching the house to find her, leaving behind her a battlefield everywhere she went. She could even hear her yelling downstairs, chanting her name without stopping. Soon, she would inspect her room, and if she did not find a solution quickly, she would be killed!

Resilient, she approached the window and opened it. She looked down and already, her legs started to shake. She was on the second floor, so if she fell, there was a high chance she would break her legs. She shivered at the thought. Then, she noticed a pipe not too far away from her, that could support her. She hoped it could support her weight if she tried to step on it. She heard loud footsteps in the hallway. No more time to think, it would do the job!

Carefully, she removed the screen and passed her legs over the edge. She was now sat on the window of the second floor, her legs kicking into the empty air. Her joints were white since she grabbed on the edge too strongly so she would not fall. She was scared, horribly scared. But she did not want to face the wrath of her sister.

"What are you doing?"

Cerys almost let go and fall since Law's voice came out of nowhere and scared her to death. Her heart beating a thousand miles an hour, she looked straight ahead and saw the young teenager who was staring at her from the comfort of his own bedroom, intrigued, leaned down on the edge of the opened window. A small smirk was visible on the corner of his mouth.

The young girl opened her mouth to answer, but a cry in the hallway made her freeze.

"CERYS!"

No more time to think! She evaluated the distance between the two windows, and deducted it at a little more than one meter and half. Would she be able to jump that far? Her sister's yell rang in the house again. She didn't have a choice anymore!

She crouched down and looked ahead, determined. Law's eyes got wide from horror, realizing her intention.

"Wait, you don't mean you're going to-"

Too late, she already jumped. Time seemed to freeze during a couple of seconds. Law's eyes as big as golf balls. The terrified expression on Cerys' face, telling she didn't think she could make it to the other window, that she did not give enough impulse when she jumped. The fresh night air that blew their hair. Then, time accelerated. Cerys made it to the other window, hit violently Law and the two of them fell down on the floor. They grunted in pain, but the young girl was the first on her feet, victorious. She made it! If only she would have recorded the whole thing, she could get extra points in her physical education class by showing it to her teacher...

Soon after, her joy was destroyed by the angry scream her sister yelled from the inside of her room. She immediately crouched down and made baby steps to get under the window. She timidly took a peak, her eyes the only visible part of her body. She saw her sister, red from anger, who was frenetically looking around her. She hid herself again, mortified. Leïla was so scary, when she was like that…

Law, who finally got up, went over to the window, not bothering to hide himself. Having no other choices, Cerys stepped to the side and got up at the same occasion. She was glued to the wall and didn't dare to move. She heard the feminine voice of her sister, who regained a little bit of her calm self, even if she was still pretty pissed off.

"Do you know where my sister is?"

Law gave a subtle look to the young girl on his side. She showed him a big X with her arms and enunciated the words "don't you dare say anything" with her lips. The young boy displayed a mocking smirk.

"She is just here." He said, pointing in her direction with his forefinger.

Cerys cringed her teeth. Could he not just shut his mouth?! Without thinking, she sent his way her fist, a week attempt to hit him. His smirk still present, he moved away at the last second without any effort. Cerys was now completely exposed. Cold sweat ran down her spine, she slowly turned around to her sister. Leïla's ebony hair masked her dark stare.

"Cerys…"

The said little sister didn't wait long before running for dear life.

This would have never happened if it wasn't for Cerys' pig like appetite. If only she did not eat the newly bought orange chocolate bar, which was her sister's…

xXxXxXxXxXx

Cerys was having fun. The sun was hot and soothing. The wind light and refreshing. The sand was soft under her toes, that enjoyed burying themselves in it. The ocean welcoming. She could finally enjoy a well-deserved vacation. The last exams she had were a real pain in the ass, but fortunately, she didn't have too much trouble with them. Anyway, it gave her that impression. In any case, for now, it was not any of her concern.

After having fun in the water for many minutes, Leïla decided she wanted ice cream. Cerys told her to go ahead, that she would follow her after she dried herself a little bit. The older girl shrugged and made her way to the ice scream stand near the beach, attracting avid attention from young teenagers.

Cerys ran towards a small beach umbrella stuck in the ground, where their stuff was. Once near the object, she noticed a body lying down under the shadow, its eyes closed. Law slept. She carefully made her way around him and took her towel not too far away. Just when she was drying her hair, her curious eyes scanned the young man and they stopped on his hands. He recently got tattoos on his fingers, and the letters formed the word _Death_. Why death?

Cerys let her towel fall on the floor and she crouched down next to his sides. She observed him a couple of seconds before a wicked smile drew itself on her face. Carefully, so he would not wake up, she started to cover him in sand until only his head was visible from the granular pile. She had fun making a siren tail and had to bite down her lips so she would not burst out laughing when she made two piles on his chest, creating that way two giant breasts, as big as watermelons. Fearing he would wake up, she hurried and took the camera her dad gave her for her birthday and immortalised the moment. An enormous smile on her lips, she hid her precious object in her thinks, took her wallet and went to meet up with her sister to eat a delicious ice scream cone.

xXxXxXxXxXx

"Not too sad to see me go?"

"Good riddance yeah!"

Cerys gave nasty looks to the newly graduated soon-to-be adult while he, in return, stared at her with an amused eye. Law just finished high school, diploma in his pocket, and decided he wanted to continue his studies in a big city, kilometers from his small hometown. Cerys' little family came to tell him goodbye on the day of his departure. And of course, Law and Cerys were fighting. Well, it was actually the dark-haired girl who was yelling at the young man.

"Is everyone ready for the picture?"

Ignoring the insults of the younger one, Law faced the photograph while Leïla ran their way. Cerys crossed her arms and a pout appeared on her face, now that the future teacher was ignoring her. Seeing her reaction, Law gave her his typical smirk and brought his long arm around her shoulder. He then started to violently rub her scalp. Tears of pain appeared on the corner of her eyes and she weakly protested. Leïla smile and put up two of her fingers behind her little sister's head to make her rabbit ears. Their father laughed upon seeing this scene and he brought up his camera to his eye. _Click_.

Even after many seconds, Law still teased his friend, enjoying his last moments he had left before they separated for a long period of time. The two of them told themselves they would miss the other. But no way in hell would they ever confess this to the other one.

* * *

 **Little precision :**

 **-First story : Cerys is 5 years old, Law, 11.**

 **-Second story: Cerys: 7, Law: 13.**

 **-Third story: Cerys: 10, Law: 16.**

 **-Fourth story: Cerys: 11, Law: 17.**


	13. Meeting

**Hiya! Just a quick word before I let you enjoy this chapter. I'm starting another semester in university tomorrow, so I can't guaranty anymore that I'll be posting a chapter every week. I'll try my best, and if I can't, you can just assume I'm dead under a pile of homework!**

 **Meeting, Chapter Twelve**

"I'll take the number three with a bottle of red wine. Cerys – you don't mind that I use your first name right? Right. Are you taking something? They make some excellent caviar! Or maybe something more light, like a salad? A dessert maybe!"

"No, thank you, I'll take a glass of water. Just water."

"As you wish."

The waiter took our order and left, leaving us alone. Nervous, I looked everywhere except in front of me. I was actually sitting in a private room, in a fancy restaurant, with a millionaire. I wasn't at all in my element, I felt so out of place. Only minutes ago, I was peacefully returning home from the grocery store, a carton of milk in my hands. Now, that same object was in the refrigerator of the restaurant, in the cold, after mister Donquixote Doflamingo, a usual of the place, if I deduct correctly from the way everyone was treating him, asked for a favor.

When the business man approached me on the street, I was far from thinking he wanted to ask me direction for this restaurant. He then gave me his name and asked for mine. I was quite surprised when he said he heard about me before this from the mouth of my biology teacher. From that point on, he proposed to me to keep him company so he could thank me properly. I could not refuse him. Even if my guts screamed at me to get far away from him, a mysterious force pressed me to accept his offer. After all, I finally found a link plausible between Law and him and I was impatient to found out more about it.

"So, mister Donquixote, you know Law?" I asked timidly.

The blond put down his elbows on the table, crossed his fingers and smiled. I noticed he still had his strange glasses on, even if we were inside.

"That's right." He calmly said. "He.. worked for me."

I nodded just as the waiter came back with my glass of water and his wine bottle. He opened it, poured it in a wine glass, put down the bottle on the table and swept away. The rich man brought his glass to his lips and took a sip. I did the same with my water.

"He was a really good worker! Always did what I asked with perfection. However, after four eyes, he suddenly disappeared. I was worried, so I came here to see if he did not return to his birthplace, but I was lost, and then the rest is history."

His face showed a lot of emotions. It started with pride, than sadness, at lastly, embarrassment. Then, he gave me a smile. But every little thing sounded like a lie to me. Hi face reflected many emotions, but his eyes told otherwise. Maybe I was just paranoid, say I'm crazy if you want, but I was convinced he lied. But what was his reasons for doing so? It was not logic. Maybe it was my brain playing tricks on me. After all, this whole situation was kind of overwhelming.

"He talked a little bit about you, Cerys. He told me you two were childhood friends?

"Friends" is a big word… I nodded all the same.

"How was he, when he was younger?"

I then told him some of our common childhood memories. Without noticing, seconds turned into minutes, and minutes transformed into an hour. When I finally realised that, I got up, panicked and horrified. Law was going to kill me!

"I have to go! " I horridly said.

He didn't seem fazed at all by my sudden restlessness, on the contrary, he smiled. He searched through his pants and gave me a small card.

"If you need anything at all, or you just want to talk, you can call me."

I hesitated, but took anyway the piece of paper.

xXxXxXxXxXx

As discret as I could be, I opened the front door, wishing Law would not notice me. I closed it as gently and turned around. Law was in front of me. My heart almost stopped beating.

"You scared me!" I said, my free hand on my chest, trying to slow down my racing heart.

Law had a terrifying expression on his face. I shivered.

"It takes you an entire hour, just to go get milk at the nearest supermarket, which is two minutes away, on foot?"

I removed my shoes and took advantage of it to escape his stare. His eyes were like lasers, piercing through my skull.

"I meet up with a friend on the way.."

My eyes fixed on the floor, I got around him and went over the kitchen. I knew he was following me.

"You're lying."

I started to fell cold sweats on my back. I hurried and opened the refrigerator to put in it the milk.

"W-why would I do such a thing? Haha, hahahaha!"

Oh lord, I wanted to punch myself.. Laughing like an idiot in this exact moment.. Good job, Cerys, real smart!

I closed the fridge's door and turned around to hit my nose against Law's chest. By reflex, I backed away, but the home appliance stopped me from going too far away. Law imprisoned me with his arms on each side of my face, violently hitting the door behind me with the palms of his hands. For the second time, I was on the verge of having a heart attack.

"Why are you lying?" He whispered real low.

His hot breath brushed my face and my heart skipped a beat. He was so close to me I could clearly see the different shades of grey in his eyes. Get back, get back, get back, get back!

As if he heard my heart's scream, he blinked and noticed our proximity. He slowly backed away and his arms heavily fell on his sides. Finally freed from my prison, I ran over to my room and locked myself in. I jumped on my bed and buried my face in my pillow while grunting. I could feel my heart beating up in my throat. After a few seconds in this position, I ended up failing in the air department. I rolled over on my back and deeply breathed in to try to calm down my throbbing heart. An object fell from my coat's pocket and onto my blankets. I took the small business card and raised it over my head. For an instant, I considered throwing it away in the garbage. However, I could no resign myself to do so. Why? No clue.

xXxXxXxXxXx

An hungry snake. It was carefully examining its prey. His piercing eyes fixed the poor little mouse. She knew death was coming, she saw it coming, but she was too terrified to escape. The snake was going to eat her alive. The prey and its victim. It was the impression I had. Law was the snake, I was the mouse. His class was even more boring than usually, if it was possible. Not only did I not get a single word he was saying, but his stare caught my form each time he looked at the class. Actually, a few students noticed his behavior. Especially people who had a "crush" on him. So now did I not have just one, but quite a few stares on me, and every single one of them wanted to decapitate me.

I sighed and took out my pencil, which was in my mouth since the beginning of the class. I started to hit it on my desk. _Tac. Tac. Tac_. Law didn't talk to me for two days. He refused to even utter a word to me, however, his eyes did not leave me for a second. If things went on like this, I was going to confess everything! However, I had the absolute impression it was not a good idea. I was certain Law did not like Doflamingo. My feminine instinct told me so.

Suddenly, I heard a pissed-off "hehum!" on my left. I lazily turned my head and looked at my table neighboor, who fixed me, a visible vein on his forehead. He looked at my pencil that I was still hitting on my desk. His eyes then raised up and judged me, blaming me. I stopped noisy racket and offered him a smile for an apology. He stared at me some more, rancorous, and returned his attention to the board, which was currently being written on by Law. I sighed again. To replace my previous activity, I found another utility to my pencil and put it between my index and thumb, lead towards the front, targeted Law's head and pretended to throw it. I repeated the movement a couple of times. After a while, I closed one eye, got my tongue out, aligned perfectly the pencil with the center of his skull. I prepared, backed up my projectile, and pretended again to throw it.

"Ah!"

Forget the "pretended". My pencil flied across the room at an incredible, and surprising, speed. Fortunately, I was not good at aiming. Instead of going towards Law's head, it charged on his right and touched the board instead before falling on the ground, rolling a few centimeters away. Law froze. Some looked at my pencil, their mouth wide open. Others were looking at me with wide eyes. In that instant, I wished I was a turtle, so I could hide my head inside my shell. Instead, I could only blush, embarrassed. Slowly, Law turned around and I saw just by looking inside his eyes that he would kill me later. I shivered.

"I get out, is that it?"

He nodded. The students gazed at Law, then me, then Law, as if a tennis ball was jumping back and forth between us. I took my things and got up. I passed over Zoro's desk and I saw him look the other way, his right hand on his lips. He was trying to hold his laugh. Thanks buddy for your solidarity… I walked towards the front of the class and headed for my pencil, still on the ground. I picked it up and frowned.

"Damn it, the lead is broken…"

Laughs echoed across the room. I sensed once again the dark stare of Law on my neck, which resulted in me having cold shivers down my spine. I ran from the class. Once out of his reach, especially out of his deadly teeth, I sighed, relieved. I was not looking forward tonight, when I'll be in his claws…

Suddenly, I saw Luffy walking a little further than me. What in the hell was he doing there?

"Luffy!"

I joigned him. Upon seeing me, he offered me a smile made in Luffy.

"Cerys? You're not in class?"

I nervously laughed.

"I got kicked out.."

It was his turn to laugh.

"Me too! The teacher did not quite enjoy the idea of me eating during his class. I tried to explain to him that I was always hungry between breaks, but he wouldn't have any of it."

He frowned and pouted so he could amplify his point. I laughed a second time. On a common non-verbal sign, we decided to head towards our locker. A thought crossed my mind.

"Say, do you want to go shopping with me next Saturday?"

xXxXxXxXxXx

"Come on Law, I already apologised, what else will it wake to convince you?"

Law did not flinch, his eyes scotched to the television.

"For Christ sake, just say something!"

If I talked to a wall, I'm sure I would have the same result. Why was he stubborn about being mad at me? I didn't even touch him with my pencil!

"Law!"

Finally turned his gaze my way. He fixed me so deeply I was uncomfortable. He tried to make me feel guilty, I'm sure. Some seconds passed by, until…

"You have to prove to me you really are sorry."

…And exactly what was I suppose to do to prove it?

"How?" I asked timidly, not sure I wanted to hear the answer to my question.

He deviously smirked.

"You have to do everything I say for a whole week."

"What?!"

My eyes doubled in size. He wanted me to be his slave for an entire week? Actually, it would not change anything from usual..

"Alright.." I finally accepted, against my will.

His smirk was now twice as big. He turned off the electronic, showed me his back and stretched his long legs on the couch.

"Give me a massage."

Was he serious now? It seemed like it. I sighed and took place behind him. I positioned myself in his back and crossed my legs to be more comfortable. I hesitated a second before putting my hands on his shoulders, starting by massaging them. Quickly, I felt his body loosing up and he relaxed. His shoulders were too tense…

"You… you know, if you want to speak to someone.." I said in a quiet voice.

My eyelids blinked more than once. Why did I say that? Law did not speak up. He didn't hear me or he ignored my words. During long minutes, my hands travelled on his back. About half an hour later, I had the illusion they were on fire. My hands hurt.. He finally made me stop and I acknowledge his request with pleasure. Instead, he told me to sit normally. I did so, septical. Why did he wanted me to…

He lied down and laid his head on my thighs.

"Wha-w-wh-what a-are you d-do-"

"I'm tired. Shut up."

My mouth closed up on its own accord. I closed my eyes. His breathing rapidly settled down and he fell asleep. I could not stop myself from observing his face. His expression was so relaxed it was strange to see him so serene. His eyes now closed, which hid his deep grey irises. His long eyelashes. His squared cheeks. His small nose. His side whiskers. His beard. His tempting lips..

Without noticing, my face leaned down and got close to his. Delicately, my lips brushed against his. When my brain analysed what I was actually doing, I abruptly raised my torso and my hand clapped over my mouth.

Why did I do that…

xXxXxXxXxXx

 _ **Another meeting**_

 _Law took a shot, than another, to finally finish his glass in one go. He indicated to the barmaid he wanted her to fill his glass, which she hurriedly did with a charming smile full of implied messages. Law smiled at her mysteriously, which made the woman melt inside before she turned around to serve the other clients._ _He returned himself to his glass._

 _He wasn't of drinking age yet*, but he just had to use his charm on the young and naïve barmaid to obtain anything he wanted. He lined up drinks after drinks, at a pretty impressive speed. To forget? Probably. He just left his hometown to escape the crooked man who coldly assassinated his parents, leaving by the same occasion his entire life behind him. So yes, he was drinking to forget._

 _Suddenly, he heard a loud sound coming from his right. He turned his head and a pretty girl was quickly leaving the building, and a young man was leaning against the bar, his hand on his now red cheek. The girl obviously slapped him. The man grunted from pain and sat on a boot. He sensed someone staring at me. The two men fixed each other a couple of seconds until Law call over the barmaid so he could offer a drink to the man, courtesy of his wallet. No words were exchange between them, not even their name, and at the end of the night, each took a different path. Law on one, Shachi, on the other._

 _Neither of them suspected that this was the beginning of a long and strong friendship._

 _ ***The drinking age in Québec is 18 years old.**_


	14. Appointment

**Appointment, Chapter Thirteen**

My heart bumped so hard in my chest I thought it would come out any minute. I still could not believe it. Why the _HELL_ did I k… ki… did that? I took advantage of his weak moments at that! I disgusted myself…

Gently, Law breathed out slowly and moved in his sleep. He was now presenting to me his back. I observed a few minutes the back of his head while being lost in my thoughts. My mind was raising, flowing all over like a river, and each drop of water was a question. Why did I do that? Why wasn't he moving? Should I wait until he wakes up? Why can I not keep out of my head the warmth of his lips? Should I tell someone about this? Or keep it for myself? Did he noticed what happened? Will he wake up soon?

Most of my questions were unanswered and I was even more confused than before. I sighed for a long time. All these events ran over my head. All those weird emotions.. Absentmindedly, I put my hand in his hair and started to comb it. It was as soft as Bepo's fur. They were more soft and silky than I imagined…

Soon, sleep took over and I succumbed to the world of dreams.

xXxXxXxXxXx

The week passed at the speed of light. After Wednesday's episode, I tried to keep my distance from Law to try to think it over, but it was not a simple task due to the fact we lived under the same roof. Actually, he kept his words and used me as his slave. Bring me this, do that… It did not help me analyse my thoughts and make some sense into the events from the past few days. On one side, there was that Doflamingo and this strange story between him and his ex "employee". On the other side, there was the weird behavior of Law, but more importantly, my own behavior. I still did not have answers for that kiss (kisses, since there was two actually), and I still wondered what came over me. Maybe a small distraction.

Anyway, after I fell asleep on the couch, Law and myself slept until the morning of the next day, and since we didn't have an alarm clock to wake us up, the two of us were late. So, as you can imagine, many rumours gossiped around the school about us. Some were completely stupid (I was his wife), others were closer to the truth (we lived together). There was one in particular that made me laugh out loud. I heard a student say that I tried to kill him that morning, just like the time I made my pencil fly across his class "that was actually a sharp blade" (quote from a student, not my own), and that was why I was late that day.

I wanted to talk to someone about this, but each one that could be a potential candidate was just not good enough. I couldn't tell every detail to Nami, and since our last conversation, it did not need a genius to know that one plus one equals two. And with those rumours about us, I was too scared she could place a name behind the mysterious person behind my story. There was my sister, but many reasons that convinced me not to say anything. First of all, I was scared she would say a word to her husband and like dominos, everything would fall down: every single person at the garage would know. I don't think Ace would tell his brother, but nothing guaranteed the others would do the same. Second of all, Leïla would surely try to give Law some "subtle" messages to get us together, but subtlety and my sister were two different things. And third of all, she would not STOP teasing me about what I did. And that, never. I also thought during a millisecond to tell Luffy because we got along really well and we told each other everything (let's just say he was my best friend), but I had trouble imagining myself talking to him about those kinds of things. Luffy was interested in romance as much as I was interested in eating a live insect. And in any case, I was certain he would not have the answers I sought. I would be back at the starting point.

Slowly, I got out of my own mind to get back to reality. At the moment, I sat on a bench in a park, waiting for a certain meat lover. I asked him to meet me this afternoon so we could do some shopping and I could by myself a cellphone. Usopp would have been a better choice, since he was more of a technologic expert than Luffy and I were, but he already had plans for today. So I was waiting for my friend for a couple of minutes in the cold, freezing my ass off on this icy bench, and he was late as always! I swear to Satan, if he did not get here this second, I will tear off his hair off and-

"Sorry I'm late!"

Two shoes entered my vision. I slowly raised my eyes and noticed the person in front of me was taller than my friend. I finally arrived at the face of the young smiling man. Upon seeing my surprised expression, Luffy's older brother started to laugh.

"What are you doing here?" I exclaimed, stupefied.

He offered me a warm smile.

"Luffy got sick."

Luffy, _sick_? No way was this real, he must be talking about something else.

"I think he caught a cold."

 _Oh_. Wait, I thought imbeciles could not get a simple cold?

"So, he asked me to replace him for today.

I nodded and got up.

"Are we going?"

Without a single word, he placed himself next to me and we peacefully walked. During our walk, I asked him all kinds of question, just so we had something to talk about, not to get awkward. That way, I learned that in fact, he wasn't Luffy's brother in term of blood. They grew up in the same orphanage and when he turned 18, he decided to take Luffy under his wings and they started to live together. They were not blood brothers, but more heart brothers. He told me he was a real thug when he was younger, but when he grew up, he learned to be more mature. He loved cars, the colour red, the ocean. His dream was to get on an adventure and travel around the entire world, a simple bag on his back as his luggage and his two legs to walk. "One day, maybe", he told to me, a discreet smile on his lips. Then, after attacking him with a million questions, he said it was unfair that I was the only one asking and it was his turn to ask me the questions. The afternoon passed at lightning speed and it was now time to go our different ways. He had to go back to his sick little brother, so he could treat him and stop him from eating something a sick people should not eat, and I had to return home to prepare diner if I did not want Law to get my head. I was already late as it was.. Ace returned with me to the apartment and stopped in front of the building.

"Thanks for coming with me today." I smiled at him.

He gave me a bow somewhat mocker.

"The pleasure was all mine."

I slowly started to laugh, then the silence came back. Awkward, I shifted my weight on one foot, than the other.

"Well then.. Good night I guess."

He smiled at me and leaned down, his lips grazing my cheek. His kiss left an extreme warm feeling on my skin,

"Take care of yourself, Cerys."

"Y-you too…"

He smiled one last time before turning tails and walking away. I watched him go, my hand landing on my cheek. It was only when his silhouette completely disappeared that I finally awake from my torpor and turned around, my cheeks still as crimson as before. I climbed the stairs and arrived at my apartment level. While I walked, I tried to gain back a more natural colour before opening the front door. No doubt Law would tease me about it, and I want to avoid it if I can help it.

I opened the door and saw he was waiting for me in the entrance. My eyebrows frowned as much as his at the moment. He did not seem happy at all. What was he doing here, waiting for me?

"Where were you?"

"I went to the store to buy a cellphone, remember? I told you this morning."

His eyes left mine to look down at the bag I had in my hands. Without saying a single word, he approached me and took it without my permission. I protested, even if it was futile, and he searched inside. He pulled out a box containing a modest little cellphone. I didn't want anything fancy. It was just a tool I would used to call and text, after all. All the extra and useless features didn't interest me in the slightest. I did not know anything about technology – if we didn't count the few programs used for photography. In fact, this object would just use as an insurance if someone wanted to call me, so they would not fall on Law's voice.

Still silent, he put back the box in the bag and stretched it out to me. I took it and he turned around to disappear in the hallway. I stayed immobile a few seconds. What's gotten into him?

xXxXxXxXxXx

"Ninomiya-kun."

"Sensei."

"Ninomiya-kun!"

"Sensei!"

"What the hell are you looking at, a porno?"

I rooled my eyes and paused the video.

"Of course not! It's just.. Never mind."

I closed my laptop, took it in my harms and went over to my bedroom to put it away. I came back to the hallway and saw Law staring at me strangely from the entrance. I send his way a piercing look.

"What?"

"Put on your coat, we're going outside."

My eyebrow raised on its own.

"Where are we going?"

He suddenly threw me my coat, which smashed itself on my face. The zipper hit my teeth.

"Get dressed, I said!"

A little please wouldn't hurt you know.. I did what I was told (even if I was not happy about it) and put on my shoes. We got out of the apartment and climbed down the stairs to get to his car. I sat on the passenger side, he obviously took the driver side and he started the engine. In complete silence, Law drove the car down the street and crossed the city until getting to the outskirt of it. We travelled across the countryside road. The silence got on my nerves, so I decided to turn on the radio. A familiar melody took over the small vehicle and I immediately started to sing in a joyful voice.

"I touch myself in the park, people makes all kinds of remarks, before the cops show up-" *****

Law bursted out laughing and during a moment, I thought we would have an accident since the car was moving left and right. Fortunately, we were the only one on the road.

"What is _that_?!" He asked between two fits of laughter.

I laughed with him.

"You don't know that song?"

He didn't had the chance to answer me since he choked on his own spit. Even after he obtained a more calm state, a few laughs escaped him from time to time. The rest of the ride was punctuated with my singing and Law's tapping on the wheel when a song caught his attention. Finally, we arrived at our destination and Law stopped the car inside the parking lot of.. an amusement park? What the heck were we doing here?

Without any words, Law turned off the engine and got out of the car. I did the same without really knowing why, for the love of photography, we were here. He locked the doors and went over to the ticket office of the park. I trailed behind him.

"Two tickets for two adults."

The little lady at the counter observed us for a couple of seconds before a knowing smile appeared on her face. Law payed for the tickets even after I protested and the woman gave him our two entrance tickets.

"And there you go, for the cute little couple. Have fun now!"

As soon as she finished talking, I became a tomato and stuttered, trying to tell her she was wrong. Law did not seem fazed in the slightest and just took the tickets while thanking here. He entered the park.

"So, you coming or not?"

I hesitated for a second, but upon seeing his persistent stare, I joined him. He started to stroll around.

"What are we doing now?"

Suddenly, I heard screams coming from my left. Gigantic rollercoasters shadowed me and people's shouts could be heard. Some from joy, others from fear. Law gazed over his shoulder, an enormous smirk on his lips.

"No. Nononononononononononono!"

I tried to back out. Immediately, he caught my wrist and dragged me behind him. I really tried, in vain, to get out of his hold. I hated, _loathed_ heights, and he knew it oh so well! Unshed tears in my eyes, I resigned myself to the inevitable death (?). We arrived at the waiting line and we stopped moving. Gently, Law lowered his hand to take mine in his. It calmed me a little. My eyes could not help but fix themselves on our joined hands. There was nothing romantic there. Our fingers weren't even intertwined. Even so, I could not stop the warmth spreading in my stomach. His hand covered entirely my hand. It was so small, compared to his. Still, I felt completely secured, like that.

"Next."

I sharply raised my eyes and saw that it was our turn to advance and take place in the killing machine.

"I beg you.. Don't do it Law.." I murmured pitifully, my tears coming back.

He offered me a recomforting smile and gently pullet on my hand. Surprise by his behavior, I silently followed him. He let me sit in the back, took place beside me and closed the security bar. We were at the very end of the benches and not long after, the employee verified I everything was in other before starting the ascent. I was trembling now. My right hand gripped so hard on the metal bar that my joints became white. The more we were going up, the more I was terrified. My left hand moved so my fingers were in between Laws and I squeezed as much as I could as if my life depended on it. I could not say for certain, since I was holding on for dear life, but I swear his hand tighten a little bit more in mine, as if he wanted to reassure me. Too fast to my liking, we arrived at the top. The paradise before our trip down to hell. We advanced slowly, simply to torture me. Then, I felt gravity take over.

I screamed.

xXxXxXxXxXx

The young woman turned her back to the teacher, out of breath. Her shoulders were trembling. Law frowned. Maybe he went overboard, with the rollercoasters and all. He did not think she would react so violently.

"Cerys?"

"That was…"

Law approached the teenager to examine her face. He could even feel her hand, which was in his, shaking.

"That was…"

Suddenly, she turned around, a huge smile on her lips and her eyes shining with excitement.

"That was awesome! Can we do it again?!"

Law stared at Cerys for a while, blinking a few times. Then, he laughed, so hard his stomach hurt. What an unexpected reaction!

Without taking notes of the laughter of the older one, she dragged him behind him to the next ride. She looked like an excited kid in a candy shop.

Law tenderly smiled. And he noticed just then that he loved her. He did not know since when. Maybe when he moved back here after those five years? The only thing he knew, is that he loved her from the bottom of his heart. He wanted to make her his. Caress her tender skin with his fingertips. Taste again her soft lips. Feel her whole body. He didn't want any other men, or even women, to touch her. A nameless wrath came over him when he saw that Ace kiss her! On the cheek, sure, but even so, he went too far! He wanted to protect her from the outside world, especially from that pink coat bastard. He would kill him if he had to, and he would never let that despicable man do wrong to the only person hold a place in his heart!

xXxXxXxXxXx

 _ **Accident**_.

" _Did you see the hips of that English teacher of yours? A real miracle! If only I could take them in my hands and-"_

 _Law stopped listening to the perverted rambling of his friend a long time ago. How could he be so obsessed with sex? Of course, Law was himself a man, so he wasn't an exception either. He had to release once in a while, so he took a student in heat on the campus and there we go, no more questions asked. However, he was not as obsessed as his friend was._ _Shachi exasperated him sometimes. Often. All the time actually._

" _Arrgh!_ _Why do every single hot girl want to get in YOUR bed?!"_

 _Law shrugged and got inside his car. Shachi continued to protest against his popularity of the future teacher and got inside the car as well. Law started the engine and got on the road to get back home. The brown-hair man really was getting on his nerves, and he was about to tell him to shut up when the two men were propelled forward. Fortunately, Shachi did shut up. Unfortunately, someone just smashed them on the rear of the car. Not waiting for something else to happen, Law got out of the car and saw another man with a strange hat on his head that said "Penguin" ran towards him._

" _Oh my god, I'm so sorry! I did not see you! Are you alright?!"_

 _Upon seeing his visible distress, Law could not hold a grudge against the man. He really did not see him._

" _We're ok."_

 _The man sighed for a long time. However, as sudden as the accident, his stare took notice of the front of his vehicle._

" _My car!"_

 ***I swear, this is a real song! The song's called "Je me touche dans le parc" (I touch myself in the park) by the band** _ **Les Trois Accords**_ **. Those guys make the most hilarious songs I ever heard, go check it out if you can understand French! They also made another song called "J'aime ta grand-mère" (I love your grandmother), which is also gold.**


	15. Bad News

**Hiiii! I finally had time to update! Wouhou! If everything goes according to plan, I should have another chapter ready for next week. Anyway, here's another chapter! Enjoy!**

 **Bad News, Chapter Fourteen**

"And then, I hang on to my seat like I was gonna fall down! I climbed, more and more, and then I arrived at the summit. Time seemed to stop. Everything was so beautiful at that height. Houses were sooooo small, and humans resembled tiny insects. And then, the rollercoasters accelerated and we fell. I really thought we were going to die! However, I could feel the adrenaline pump through my veins. I was terrified, and excited, at the same time. It was really strange.."

Luffy avidly ate his lunch while listening to my "adventure". I told him all about my trip with Law yesterday at the amusement park (without mentioning the said teacher of course). On my right, Zoro did the same thing. I had the impression of being a great storyteller, by the way my audience was listening to me. It made me smile.

After that, I told them about the haunted house that, I must admit, made me (just a tiny bit) scared.

..Well, alright, I was as scared as a little kid watching _The Ring_ movie for the first time. And Law made sure to make fun of me when we got out of that nightmare. Yet, when we were inside, he held my hand without saying a word. Now that I think about it, during the entire day, he kept his hand in mine. At that thought, I felt the red colour taking over my cheeks.

Usopp arrived, a tray of spaghetti in his hands, today's menu at the cafeteria, and silently sat on his spot next to Luffy. He ate his food without any enthusiasm. His face was empty of any positive emotions and he seemed a little troubled. Something wasn't right.

"Usopp? You ok?" I gently asked him.

He was startled by my voice and quickly raised his gaze. He was so lost in his thoughts he just realized I was there in front of him. He stared in my eyes for a couple of seconds before turning his gaze and picking at his plate without any interest. The table went silent. Even Luffy chewed without making a sound (which was a first!).

"Do you remember Mister Foxy, the art teacher?"

I thought for a few seconds. Wasn't that the small teacher with the pointy red nose who had a weird laugh and that was hurt easily? I think it was him, but I wasn't certain. After all, I never took any art classes in this school, instead choosing music with Mister Brook. The only art form I was any good at was photography. Ask me to draw a pig and it will look like a cat.

We each nodded one after the other to show him we knew who he was talking about. He sighed.

"He's dead."

I froze. I did not know that guy personally, but it didn't mean it did not affect me at all. The two boys had reactions similar to my own. I swallowed with difficulty.

"Do you know what happened?" I asked, my voice low, like I didn't really want to know the answer.

He shrugged.

"Teachers don't talk about it too much. They just say that his wife Porche found him inert on his bathroom floor, his throat sliced. They think it's a suicide."

He slowly raised his gaze and I could see a parcel of malice in them.

"But I did my own investigation and the more I discover, the less I think it's a suicide. I heard two security guards talking about marks of intrusion in the apartment, as well as no signs of the murder weapon. If it really was a suicide, the weapon would have been found in his hand, or at least a few feet away, no? He wouldn't have had time to hide it!"

Usopp continued to tell us his hypotheses, but my mind was elsewhere. Why did that suicide (or murder, according to my curly hair friend) was so sudden? For a second, I imagined Law in the shoes of the ex-art teacher. On his back, his throat opened. His eyes like holes, his livid skin. I shivered. Maybe he wasn't mister perfect, but I would never wish him that! Not to anyone, actually!

I sighed and brought my fork to my mouth. I had difficulties swallowing my bite. I then fixed my plate, disgusted, just to close it a second later and put it in my bag. My imagination had ripped me of my appetite.

xXxXxXxXxXx

I stared at Law since a couple of minutes ago. On the other end of the table, he slowly drank his coffee while doing some word finder games. On my end of the table, my math notebook was lay out in front of me and I was doing boring exercises one after the other. Actually, at the moment, my sheet was quite untouched, but…

"What's with you, staring at me like that during the last hour?" Quietly asked Law without raising his eyes from his dark covered sheet full of pencil lead marks.

I jumped and blushed from being discovered. I immediately stared down at my math equations.

"N-nothing at all!" I hurried to answer.

He raised his gaze, one of his eyebrows up, then he brought back his attention to what he was previously doing. I sighed.

The image of Law's dead body haunted me. Obviously, I didn't want him to die (I wasn't that cruel!). After all, he was my friend. Kinda, I think.. What was our relationship anyway? Friends? No, I don't think so. Acquaintance? Maybe a little more than that. Teacher/Student? No, that sounded.. strange. After all, I knew him before he started to teach. Where were we then? Raaah, it gave me a headhache, thinking about all this!

I got up while grunting silently. The fresh air would do me some good. Law raised his head when he heard my chair rub against the floor.

"What are you doing?"

I looked at the ceiling. Must he know every single thing I did every single minute of the day.

"I'm going out for a walk." I said, slightly irritated.

I turned around and got to the hallway. I barely heard Law getting up himself and moving around. He passed me at the speed of lightning and stood in front of me. He blocked my way. I tried to get around by passing him on his right. He took a step to the side. I clicked my tongue, unhappy. I tried the other side. He did the same. I raised my angry eyes at him.

"What are you doing?"

"You stay here."

I let out an exasperated "Raaah!".

"Why?! I just want to inhale some fresh air!"

He crossed his arms and looked at me with a stubborn expression. I grunted even more. During more than half a minute, a visual war started between us. We could almost see sprinkles coming out of our eyes. Then, upon seeing it was a battle I could not win, I forfeited against my will.

"I'll stay. At one condition."

He raised one eyebrow.

"You tell me what you know about the death of the teacher Foxy."

I couldn't help it. My curiosity just pushed me to ask. And Usopp words kept ringing in my head. With everything he said, I was thinking the same as him; it wasn't just a mere suicide. I knew Law was an expert at finding information. He surely would know something, even just a small detail no one would pay attention to.

After the question left my lips, Law froze. His arms fell down his sides and he started at nothing for a few seconds. Then, he seemed to get out of it and blinked several times. He finally answered my question.

"It was a suicide. End of story."

He looked straight in front of him. It was well hidden, but I could see his jaw tensing. After ten long years of knowing him, I could sometimes notice small details from his facial expressions that told me he was lying or not. And this time, he wasn't telling me the truth, that's for sure. Why lie then? Another mystery to solve.

"Well I think it's a murder." I said with an innocent tone.

His eyes quickly searched mine and he frowned even more. Now he was pissed.

"Why are you asking me questions about this?"

Subtly, I gently moved to his right so I could get around him. He easily spotted me and got in the way. I pouted.

"Just simple curiosity." I said, starting to lose my cool. "Now, will you let me go outside?"

He started down at me for a dozen of seconds before finally getting out of the way. I sighed, relieved. I entered the entrance and put on my little boots. Just when I was getting up to put on my jacket that was in the closet, I saw Law put on as well his shoes on his feet. My hand froze just when I was taking the handle between my fingers.

"What are you doing?"

He finished tying his laces before getting up and looking at me.

"I'm coming with you."

My shoulders fell.

"Huh.. Why?"

"Because."

Before I could stop it, my hand hit my forehead, making a nice _poc_ sound. It sure was a complete explanation…

"But-"

"Are you daring to go against the orders of your master, slave?" He cut me off, an evil smirk on his lips.

I sighed, submissive. I had to obey him for two days, until Wednesday. And each time he could, he enjoyed treating me like his "slave" while he was the "master". Who did he think he was, the lord of the region?

Completely beaten down, I took a coat from the closet and got out of the apartment without much conviction, Law right behind me. Once on the sidewalk, I put on my hood on my head, my hands in my pockets, my eyes glued to the ground. I absolutely resented the idea of someone recognising me while I was in the company of my biology teacher. I would live hell on earth if anyone discovered I lived with him…

A dozen of minutes passed in silence. I fixed my eyes on my track and Law followed behind. With his long legs, he didn't have any difficulty keeping up with me. His shoe sole resonated on the asphalt. _Toc. Toc. Toc_. If I didn't know it was him, I would almost be scared someone followed me.

Another dozen of minutes passed by slowly. I was right, the fresh air of the night did me some good. I could feel every muscle in my body relaxing. It was when I was enveloped by a calm sensation that a happy and familiar voice made me cringe.

"Teacher Law?"

My eyes doubled in size and I didn't completely look up before abruptly returning to my former position to see a pair of flipflops just in front of me. Luffy had incredible timing, terrible indeed!

"You live near here?" He asked innocently.

I heard Law moving to my right. I could feel his heat even with our clothes on.

"That's right."

The silence returned. I couldn't see him, mye yes still fixed on the floor, but I could swear Luffy was watching me. From more precautions, I pulled down my hood on my head. Cold sweat ran down my back. Luffy's eyes burned on my cloths.

The moment I told myself my friend was going to found out about my identity, I felt an arm put itself on the small of my back and it forced me against something hard and warm. Law's chest.

"Excuse my wife, she's just a little shy." He said with a mocking tone.

The wife of.. What?! What the hell was he saying, that idiot?! Couldn't he find a better excuse? I don't know, that I was his sister?

Law's tactic seemed to work because Luffy soon after changed the subject. It was great, since my friend soon left after a few minutes. But it was also bad, because I had to stay clued to Law's torso the entire time. His body was giving off so much heat I had the impression I was on fire! At least he smelled like soap…

When finally Luffy left us alone, I tried to get out of his grip, but it was just to strong for me to break free. He forced me to stay flush against him.

"Law, let me go!"

"What, you don't like our position?" He asked, malicious.

I tried with all the strength I got to get away from him. I pushed, hit. He suddenly let go without a warning, which resulted in my butt falling hard on the cold ground. Slowly, Law kneeled down in front of me and observed me with his signature smirk. After a couple of seconds, I put his hand on my cheek and gently pinched.

"You're all red. Is miss embarrassed for some reason?" He mocked me.

Angry, I abruptly pushed his hand away from my skin, hurriedly got up and quickly walked back to the apartment, my cheeks on fire. Law's laugh resonated in my back.

xXxXxXxXxXx

I felt despair just by putting my bag on my bag. It weighed a ton from the mountain of homework miss Robin gave to us, which we had to do for her next class in two days. I adored the classes the history teacher gave us, really. She had this fascinating atmosphere around her when she captivated our attention upon teaching us about just the smallest things, even if it was boring dates. However, she also loved to torture us by giving us tons and tons of homework. I was just hoping I would have the time to do all this.

While I was feeling sorry for myself, two girls suddenly appeared on the side of my locker, knocking back the door, which caused it to close. They looked at me as I was a piece of garbage for two seconds before starting to talk with irritating voices. I fixed them before reopening my door while grunting. They gossiped loud and clear, to the point where I could only hear them. I looked at them again, but the one that seemed like the bitch queen looked back, disgusted.

"What are you looking at, ugly?" She spilled out.

I raised my eyebrow, not on bit intimidated by her tone. Instead of being offended, I was just thinking to myself that she could have used a better insult that was way more offensive and original than that. I had to say, Law was a hundred time better in that field.

I returned to my things and saw in the corner of my eye that the show-off was pissed I didn't had any reaction. She quickly recovered and she resumed her loud talking with her friend.

"You don't know what I heard?" She said with a particularly high voice.

I took out my big fat coat (since it was so cold outside), put my bag on the floor and put on my piece of clothing. Her subordinate answered her by shaking her head. She exclaimed an outraged "Aah!".

"I heard from a dependable source that teacher Law – you know, that brown-hair super sexy guy?- was…

She paused for dramatic effect before going on.

"Maried!"

The two had their breath taken away. I raised my eyes to the sealing. Then, her information went all the way to my brain. Tell me I'm dreaming, Luffy just had to go tell that detail to someone! Knowing him, he told anyone who would listen.

Wait.. "A dependable source?" I couldn't help myself. I laughed. If Luffy was a dependable source, I was the tooth fairy! The two girls turned my way and stared as if I was crazy. I ignored them, put my bag on my shoulder and closed my door to lock it. I offered them a big smile, passed them and went over the hallway.

I made my way across the impatient human flow that just wanted to go home. I was more or less enthusiastic, because Law would once more give me a mountain of tasks to do. It went from cleaning all the windows in the apartment to give him a feet massage. Fortunately, it was the very last day he could treat me like his slave. My nightmare was soon over…

I pushed the school's door and was finally outside. The sun was blazing on me, blurring my vision for a few seconds. Yellow spots were moving fast around me and I realized they were school buses. I went over to the street and got on the sidewalk. Immediately, I took my camera and seized the view all around me.

Instead of going directly home, I bifurcated to my left and walked on the grass of a park. At that hour, a few children were playing outside and having fun with their friends. I smiled as a young girl passed me so she could escape her friend who was showing her quite lively crickets. Strangely, those kids reminded me of Law and I when we were younger.

I sat down on a bench, put down my bag at my feet and took a deep breath. I relaxed while observing the park, my camera in action from time to time. As diner was approaching, the park was slowly emptying itself. Soon, every single child had returned home, ready to eat a good meal their parents would have cooked for them. It was now completely silent, and that's why I jumped when I heard my bag roar. I started at it, wondering what was going on in there, before I realized it was my new cellphone that was making that sound. I searched through my bag and took it out. I had received a text message. From Law, more precisely.

"Get your ass over here, I'm starving!"

Charming… I quickly replied back an answer. Well, quickly is a big word… It took me a good thirty seconds to just write _I'm coming_. I still wasn't used to that piece of technology. I had trouble even understanding how it worked. That's why, to familiarise myself with the device, I explored its many features and opened my contact list. Of course I had Law's information, since he forced me to take it, but I also had Nami's and Luffy's number. I still had a few of my friends' missing. Then, I took note of a strange number I put in it last night without thinking much. Donquixote Doflamingo's number. Our last encounter was still in my thoughts. Could he bring me the many answers I seaked? Whithout thinking, I pushed the call button. I panicked for a few seconds, considering the option of just hanging off, but I finally put the phone on my ear. Two rings later, someone answered.

"Hello?"

A noisy cacophony could be heard in the background, but I recognised the voice of the business man.

"M-Mister Doflamingo?" I said, my voice unsure. "Hi, it's Cerys…"

There was a break on the other side of the line, where I could only hear a terrible racket behind, as if something was breaking. Did he do construction work in his home?

"Oh, Cerys! I was actually thinking about you!" He said, enthusiastic.

I stead sceptical at his answer. A man's voice screamed incomprehensible words and the blond answered harshly something I did not quite get. He talked to me again.

"Listen, I'm a little busy right now. Why don't you come to my place next Saturday so we can talk in piece?"

xXxXxXxXxXx

 _ **The Beginning of Hell**_

 _Law looked hatefully at the man standing in front of him. With his perverted smile and sunglasses, it really just gave him one urge: jump on him and beat him until he drowned in his own filthy blood. But the canon of a gun on his head stopped him from doing so. Kneeled on the hard cold concrete, Law spitted out blood at the man's feet. He hadn't been cooperative a few seconds ago, and so the man with the gun had to hit him violently on his face. Doflamingo's smile widened._

" _Law, Law, Law…"_ _He said, as if he was scolding a child. "How naïve you are! You perfectly know you can't escape me!"_

 _The brown hair stayed quiet while staring at the man. You could see all the loathing in his eyes._

" _You must have inherited that trait from you parents, I imagine. They two thoughts they could escape, and look where that took them."_ _He said, faking sadness._

 _Law didn't even blink._ _He spitted again, drool and blood hitting his rich black shoes. The man with the gun gave him a taste of his rifle butt behind his head. Stars appeared on his vision._

" _You know, I was really generous with them, just as I am to you, by proposing to repay their debts if they worked for me, but they were just as stubborn as you…"_

 _He sighed sadly. Law wanted to hurl upon seeing his concentrated dishonesty._

" _Oh, it reminds me! I saw a beautiful young girl the other day. Big green eyes, magnificent black hair.. Does the name Cerys ring a bell?"_

 _Law immediately froze and his entire body felt rage._

" _If you touch just a single hair on her head…" He hissed, threatening._

 _The sick smirk of the blond doubled. He finally found his weak spot. With a little persuasion, Law would eat right off of his palm…_


	16. The Invitation

**Just before we start this chapter, I want to say that I wasn't caught up with the manga/anime when I wrote this chapter, so what I say about Law's past was just my imagination. Also.. I really should stop making promises, I'm sorry I didn't post a chapter sooner.. I realised it's quite impossible for me to write regularly while school is happening. So from now on, the story is considered on hiatus, and I'll post chapters when I can. Like right now, since I finished my semester and am free. For now at least. I hope you understand! I swear, I won't abandon this story!**

* * *

 **Chapter Fifteen, The Invitation**

An enormous entry blocked my view. It had two grand iron gates, stretching on a good 30 meters. In fact, I had difficulty just seeing the end of it. It was on a large field, studded with bushes and trees, the grass neatly cut. The little asphalt road I had to cross to get to get to the gates was hidden by a small forest. And on the other side of those gates was an enormous house- no, not a house actually. A gigantic mansion with a dark aura was facing me. It was as beautiful as it was gloomy. From what I could tell, it was built over a hundred years ago.

I was in front of one of the gates, intimidated by scenery, and I was wondering if I should ring or just flee for my life. Why did I accept the offer of the rich businessman? And why did I come without telling a word to Law? _Oh yeah_ , because I wanted answers.

Slowly, I got down from my bike and put down the leg stand. Backpack on my shoulder, I then walked towards what looked like a small speaker and button on the right. I swallowed, then pressed my finger on it. For a good 5 seconds, nothing happened. Thinking nobody was home, I turned and was about to go back to my bike when a male voice spoke in my back. I was startled.

"Yes?"

I turned once again and went back towards the wall. I didn't know that voice.

"Huh.. Hi." No reaction from the man. I continued. "My name is Cerys and Mister Doflamingo in-"

"You can come in." He interrupted me.

Slowly, the metal doors opened loudly. I fixed them while they let me take a peak at the mansion.

"Thanks.." I whispered to the speaker, even though I was sure he already cut off our conversation.

Not really friendly, that guy.. I walked over to my bike and pulled up the leg stand. I put my two hands on the handlebar and advanced. I adjusted my bag on my shoulder while I walked through the gates. I couldn't help myself while I admired the view. It was filled with many trees and a fountain to my right, which refreshed the place. The mansion seemed even more pretty up front. All in stones, it was a good two stories tall. There even was a stable attached to the left building, and it looked quite well-kept, which mean it was often used. Gently, the doors closed behind me and made me jump when they sealed together. Now frightened, I walked progressively more slowly. More quickly than I could manage, I arrived at the small balcony in front of the mansion. I stopped my bike in front of the stairs, walked up all three of them and marched towards the wood door. I took a deep breath and knocked. After a dozen of seconds, the door opened. It revealed a tall man with slicked back brown hair on his head, that matched his formal attire : a black suit and tie. His piercing eyes intimidated me. Without a word, he opened the door completely and invited me to come in. I did so nervously and entered the main hall of the mansion. A big stair that separated in two in the middle stood before me. To both my sides, I noticed two hallways that probably went somewhere.

"Mister Doflamingo will not be long" said the man in black.

On that note, he put his right hand on his heart and bowed towards me slightly before disappearing, leaving me all alone. Was he a butler? He looked like one, anyway. The silence came back to greet me and I shifted my weight on one foot, then the other, nervous. I enviously watched the door behind me. Should I leave? After all, it wasn't all that bad if I didn't get the answers to my questions. Yeah, that's right, I should go back to Law's apartment and act like I never went here!

Just as I was about to turn around and get the hell away from here, I heard footsteps come down the stairs. I looked up and saw Donquixote Doflamingo walk down in all his glory, a smirk on his face, followed closely by a young woman who was probably a maid, jugging by her clothes. I couldn't see her expression because she was staring at the floor. The blond left his big-ass pink coat for a blue laid back check shirt and some black three quarters pants. He still had his sun glasses on his nose, even though we were indoors. Was he blind, or just a douchebag?

"Be welcome into my humble house, Cerys!" he said, a perfect-teeth smile on his face.

A _humble_ house huh.. It wasn't modesty that was going to kill him one day.. I still offered him a tiny smile.

"You have a really beautiful mansion."

His smile doubled.

"Right? I fell in love with it the moment I saw it! And even better, it was on sell when I bought it. Only two million dollars. A real bargain!"

ONLY two millions?! Was he loaded with money?! Without knowing how to react, I stared at my feet. He started to laugh.

"Come on, don't be so shy! Make yourself at home!"

He clicked his fingers. As soon as he did, the woman bowed to his master and placed herself behind me. She delicately took my bag and my small coat. She then went over to the right hallway and disappeared. I didn't have time to react.

"You'll get your things back when you leave."

It almost sounded like a threat. He put his arm in the middle of my back and invited me to follow him. We went through the left hallway and walked a couple of seconds. Each person we crossed were women in maid's uniform or men in penguin suit. Each time, they would acknowledge the blond and be on their merry way, their heads always low. I tried to catch their eyes, but they never looked up.

"Are you hungry Cerys? Maybe thirsty?"

I shook my head.

"Thanks, but I had diner before coming here."

He nodded and once again fell into silence. We were still walking through the hall, turning once on our left, then our right. We finally arrived in front of two massive doors, different in appearance of the rest of the mansion. He opened one of them and asked me to get in. Inside was a particular odor. It smelled like hay and fresh air. There was a small bench in the middle, two doors on the left and one on the right. The first door on my side had everything needed to ride a horse. The reins, the carpets, the saddles. Next to the first door was a changing cabin. And in the last was the stable.

While I observed the new environment, Doflamingo entered himself and went directly to the door in the back.

"Would you like to see my horses?"

xXxXxXxXxXx

" _Mommy, mommy, look what I drew!"_

 _A little boy ran towards a woman, an enormous smile on his lips and a piece of paper in his hands. The woman crouched down to the level of her five years old son and gave him a heart-warming smile. He finally arrived at her and proudly showed her his drawing. She took the piece of paper delicately from his fingers._

" _It's beautiful, honey."_

 _The small boy beamed with joy. His mother kissed tenderly his forehead and the little boy ran off where he came from. A little bit away from the scene, a man observed the scene. His arms crossed, his expression was burning with sadness. In front of him, his younger self and his own mother continued their activity as though he wasn't here._ Of course, this is just a dream _, the man said to himself._

 _Law slowly walked towards his mother who was softly singing while making diner. Once by her side, he realised she was a lot smaller than in his memories. More frail too.. But he was just a child, the last time he saw her. Now an adult, he was taller than her by a good head. She had marvellous black hair, big grey eyes, the same as his own, small pink cheeks, a defined chin. She was so beautiful, in her small summer dress. Drowning in nostalgy, he reached out with his trembling hand towards the young woman. Just as his fingers were about to touch her, she disappeared, just like the little boy and the kitchen where he stood seconds ago. The background changed and soon, he was in a park. In some wasteland, in fact. A tall man with dark hair stood a few meters from him, a baseball glove in his right hand. The features were exactly like his._ Dad _… Suddenly, a ball went through Law like he was made of air and made its way to the man. He caught it easily before throwing in at Law. Once again, it went through his body like it was nothing. The teacher followed its course dans saw it fell in the hands of the same young boy as before. Now seven years old, the young Law had won a few centimeters and looked sharp for his age. An innocent glow sparkled in his eyes. The innocence only child had._

 _Once more, the scenery vanished, leaving Law alone. He waited a couple of seconds so old memories would start playing again, but nothing happened. Just dark surrounding him. He couldn't even see his hands in front of his eyes. Instead of panicking, he took a deep breath and stayed calm_. In any case, this is just a dream, I can't get hurt _, he told himself again._

 _All of a sudden, a light appeared like in was coming from the sealing and illuminated something in front of him. A few shadows. He slowly got closer. Once close enough, he could make out more of their silhouettes. Two were on the ground, one crouched near them, and two were up not far from them. Law felt his foot starting to get wet. In a sticky liquid. That was red._ Blood _red. He looked up._

 _His younger self was crouched down on the dirt and his cheeks were flooded in tears. He chanted two words. « Mom… Dad… » Over, and over, and over again. His cries wouldn't stop. His parents down on the floor in front of him weren't moving. They were bathing in their own blood, their stare blank. The two persons left were just observing the scene before them. The first one had a gun in his hands, the weapon of the murder, and had a big hood over his hand, making it impossible to see who was underneath. Then, there was Doflamingo. Who watched the young boy cry with a satisfied look on his face. Law clenched his fists. Rage boiled in his stomach. Kill him. He was going to kill him!_

 _Suddenly, the two murderers turned towards the black-haired man and stared at him. The one with the hood pulled up his weapon and pointed him towards his heart. With a sick smile, he pulled the trigger._

Law abruptly woke up. He raised his torso and panted loudly. It took him a couple of seconds to realise he was in his bedroom, in front of his desk, on his chair. He fell asleep late last night while he was marking his student's exams. He then fell asleep on his chair, his head resting on his forearms. His heartbeat and breathing slowly went back to normal and Law could make more sense in his head. A nightmare. He just had a nightmare. Of his past. He gently got up and get out of his room to lock himself in the washroom. He placed himself in front of the sink, leaned on it and looked in the mirror. He had a terrible face. He was as white as a sheet, his hair so messy it seemed he had a mop on his head and the dark circles under his eyes made him appear as even more terrifying than normal. He opened the faucet, put his hands under the water and sprayed his face. He already felt better. Without a second thought, he removed his cloths from his body and entered the shower. He let out the icy water and stayed long minutes under the cold liquid. It was only after he put some order in his thoughts that he turned off the water and stepped out. He put a towel around his waist and traveled the hallway towards his room. He quickly got dressed and then went to the kitchen. What time was it? His stomach started to rumble.

"Cerys?" No answer. He frowned, noticing a piece of paper on the kitchen table. He took it in his hands.

« I went out for the afternoon and I should be back by diner. If there is anything, you can call me on my cellphone.

Cerys.

Ps: I made mac and cheese for lunch. »

Law clicked his tongue. That girl had the timing to disappear without notice! Without waiting, he took the house phone, wrote down her number and put the device on his ear. First ring. Second ring. Third ring. Fourth ring. "Hi, you've reached the number of-" Law turned down the phone while grunting. She wasn't even answering the fun, that idiot! He angrily went towards the fridge to take out the lunch she made. On problem at a time. He first had to calm the monster in his stomach.

xXxXxXxXxXx

"Woh!"

Admiration written on my face upon seeing the beautiful mare in front of me, I couldn't help the stupid smile that appeared on my face. How pretty she was! I slowly approached my hand to her muzzle to caress her. Gently, she moved forward and smelled my fingers. She fell back a bit and shook her muzzled while loudly blowing. I laughed.

"She is magnificent, isn't she?"

I nodded vigorously while Doflamingo went to her side. He caressed her neck and she obediently let him do it. I once again approached my hand so I could touch her. She showed me her teeth and tried to eat my sleeve. I laughed even more.

"Did you ride a horse before, Cerys?" Asked me the blond man.

I shook my head.

"Do you want to try?"

I shook it again. It was the first time I saw a horse so close up, and I had to say that it was making me nervous. They were unpredictable, just like humans, and they made me scarred a little. He sighed when hearing my answer and looked at the stable clock.

"Oh, it's time already!"

He moved away from the mare and invited me to follow him where we came from. I did as he asked without knowing where he wanted to take me. Before we reached the exit, he looked one last time at the animal. She had her big eyes on me and blinked while some man brought her back to her box, just like she wanted to tell me goodbye. Without thinking I waved at her before going back to the manor. We crossed over the hallway a second time to arrive at the big entrance. As we set foot in the room, the butler from before came towards us. He gave us a small bow before speaking up.

"The guests will soon be her, mister." Doflamingo nodded. "Excellent."

I stared at them, one at a time, confused. Guests? What were they talking about? Seeing my lost expression, the blond smiled at me.

"I arranged a ball tonight and I'm waiting for some prestige guests! Of course, you are invited as well."

He snapped his fingers. As soon as he did, a young woman not too much older than myself appeared and took my arm so I would follow her.

"Wait, what? H-hold on a sec!"

She wasn't listening to me and just kept on going, bringing me to the second floor.

xXxXxXxXxXx

Sat on the sofa, Law tapped nervoursly his feet and his fingers drummed on his cheek. The TV was on in front of him, but he didn't pay it much attention. He was only thinking about one thing. Cerys. She still wasn't back, and he was worried. Since Doflamingo send him that text, he was on edge. He was scarred he would one day find the dead body of the younger girl, killed by the hands of one of the assassins of the pink flamingo (the « love » name Law gave him). Since the murder of Foxy (because it really was a murder, there was no doubt about it), he was always on alert. If something were to happen to her..

The phone started to ring. Law jumped from the sofa as soon as he heard it and practically ran towards the device. He could see the number of Cerys' cellphone. He sighed and picked up the phone.

"I thought you said you would be back before diner, you little-"

"Good evening Law."

He froze. His entire body tensed up and his expression changed for the worse. It was the last voice on earth he wanted to hear.

"Doflamingo.. What did you do to her…"

His voice was hard and threatening. Everybody would have shit their pants upon hearing him. But the rich man wasn't everybody. Instead, he smirked. Law knew that and cringed.

"Oh, but I didn't do anything! On the contrary, SHE was the one who sought me out!" He said happily.

Law clenched his fists.

"You're lying!"

The smirk of Doflamingo doubled.

"No, I'm not lying. But if you're so untrusty, why don't you come verify yourself!"

On that note, he hung up. Law stared at the device and his hold was so tight we had the impression it would break.

xXxXxXxXxXx

 _ **A dark job**_

 _Law was lying on his bed, glaring at the ceiling of his room. He disgusted himself. How could he do such a thing? He was so ashamed…_

 _The day before, he had to do, for the first time, one of Doflamingo's « job ». He had to met one of his « clients » who refused to pay the money he owed the millionaire. In those cases, he got his « bailiff » to deal with that. But most of the time, they didn't want to pay up, so they had to use a little violence to convince them. Law had to go to the house of a young father without any cash and since, of course, he couldn't pay, he had to obtain it one way or another. Law then started to beat the man in front of his wife and daughter who, in tears, asked him to stop. He wanted to do just that, but one of Doflamingo's man came with him to be sure he did the job right, without letting the client get had to continue, guilt eating him up when he saw the two girls trying to help the man they loved. In the end, he was swimming in his own blood. That was when the partner in crime said that if he didn't pay them, he would do something to his family instead. The man accepted to pay them with the money he used to pay the rent and the groceries for his small family. When they finally got out of the house, his partner gave him a pat on the back, telling him he did a great job. When Law got back to his apartment, he hurried to the bathroom where he threw up in the toilet. He disgusted himself!_

 _With a sigh, Law turned on his side so he could reach under his bed with his hand. He put out a small box. He then sat down, put it on his thighs and opened it. He browsed through it to finally take out a pile of photos. He studied them, one by one. A tiny smile finally made his way to his lips. He still felt like dirt, but at least, he could forget for a moment._


End file.
